The location is Demon King Castle, a meeting room reserved for top executives.
It is also the first place the Demon King and I have ever met.
It was also in front of the recording stone for the transfer of this space that Mira and I contracted with the ring.
The Throne of the Demon King and the Long Table. And then there are five chairs.
Currently, all seats are filled.
[The Vampire Queen] Carmilla, [The Devil of Love] Citry, [The Mower Knight] Fulcus, [The Devil of Time] Agarez, [The Dark Devil's Guide of Ship Horns] Remegeton, and [The Demon King] Lucifer.
We were gathered from the Demon King and thought the reason - was to consult on the party structure.
"You fall out, Agarez."
Mr. Agarez is a demon dressed in a swallow tail suit and fur costume. A man in his late twenties or so, his silver hair is stroked behind him and horns grow from both ends of his forehead. It's a horn that reminds me of a goat.
"Crap. There's no way I'm leaving the Demon King's side."
A bee and a spark scatter between them.
Mr. Citrie laughs with a troubled face, and Mr. Fulcus eats a dish created from "Everything Dome Cover".
I was silent with me, too.
All Heavenly Festival competition is based on the rule of participation in a basic five-person group.
The basic reason is that some of the participants are not trapped in this frame.
The concept of this festival is "The Strongest Decisions" and the schematic prepared may be "The Legendary Challengers".
First, the active adventurer/demon is singled out by the athlete, and too many participants are hung on the sieve.
Let some of the remaining strong fight against the 'legend', that is, retired former adventurers and former demons.
I'm just looking for people to join now, but it's not hard to imagine that adventurers alone would attend almost all of the convenient parties.
It's a modern era where they say there are tens of thousands of pairs just for brave parties, which would be quite a size from qualifying.
By the way, there's no special treatment because it's top ranked.
Even that air real party, I'll be in the qualifying round.
As in the tournament, the top rank would have been exempt from qualifying, but there's no toughest decision, no care.
Many want to win the top ranks, but many expect to lose in rank but to be driven crazy by their favorite party.
It adds to the expectations of demonic fans there too, so everyone's been honking their chests before it started.
"Lady Lemegeton, what do you think?
"Huh, you dug a grave, vampire. Unlike you, the General Staff will not misjudge you on personal grounds."
"Nha...! You're the one who doesn't want to leave the Demon King."
"Gu, what are you kidding me about? Until I decided that my superior power as a subordinate should be withheld."
"I don't know if the other dungeons are, but as far as Demon King Castle is concerned, there's nothing deeper or stronger. Make no mistake."
"Hmm. But as some say 'Four Heavens are weakest' than in ancient times, the Four Heavenly Kings who fight a line of brave men first get..."
"Heh, heh. Agarez, you want to see the rest of the blood?
These two arguments are healthy in a way because they don't pull a single step.
Carmilla doesn't think of him as a real pervert, and Agarez doesn't think of her as weak, etc.
If they were both serious, they would be in a move to kick them out of the Four Heavens.
Because we both truly love the Demon King.
If you don't think the Demon King deserves it, there's no way I'm gonna allow you to take this seat.
"I know you won't love the rest. Crap, that's enough fighting."
In one word of the Demon King, the two of them shut up.
"Needless to say, I called you today because we had something to talk about the festival"
Our consciousness focuses on the Demon King.
"I thought about the rest. If creating one powerful party is enough, then we should just pull one out of it and form a party. But I dare you. To that extent, your grandfather cannot be defeated."
The Demon King loves the staff of Demon King Castle more than anyone else.
The master fell out and many of the powerful demons left.
Because they just followed because their master was the boss.
When my predecessor, Mr. Fellow, quit, he pulled through many demons.
I sympathized with his ideals, or perhaps the rewards shown were purely high.
And the remaining demons, and the demons collected by Mr. Lucy, could not be equated with the Demon King's Army of the Master's time, no matter how much they were raised.
But that's the only thing I can do.
Dungeon management is not sweet enough to easily rebuild while most of the main force has fallen out.
It might be easy to understand if you could imagine it on a team in the sport.
But the Demon King and his men continued to defend the name of the impenetrable defeat among them.
A record of zero depth reaching parties was kept.
Even if most of the demons were to be made up of young people and leave the tenth floor boss, which was an empty seat, to humans, Demon King Castle jumped the invasion of every adventurer.
But.
Even such a feat would be sumptuous if we put that man in front of us.
[Demon King] Lucifer.
Candidates, what a word is unnecessary. You can just call it this, and nobody disputes it.
The strongest in the world.
That's permissible, the only being.
The All-Heaven Festival competition is a celebration of how athletes challenge the strongest Demon King on their own.
The threat is immeasurable because he will join the former Four Heavenly Kings and even the Altreat Party on his side.
"I won't force you, but I want each of you to form a party and stay until the final battle."
――――
At that time, the thoughts felt by each of the executives would surely not have been the same.
"I understand."
It was Mr Fulcus who stopped the hand of the meal and answered.
"Yes."
Mr. Citrie responds with a smile as he raises one hand.
"If it is the wish of the Demon King..."
Carmilla nodded as she showed surprise.
"I am not leaving the side of the Demon King. If that means anything, give me your orders."
From the word that it is not compulsory, Mr Agarez refuses.
"... Huh. Fine. You come with me."
The Demon King just laughs when he half-expected it or had no choice.
"Ha...!
Her gaze turns to me.
"Lemegeton."
"Yes, I was also thinking about belonging to another party. And there's something I'd like to talk to you about…"
In front of this member. I don't even need to bother to create a lemegeton-like tone.
"Oh, allow (,,,)"
Permission was given by the Demon King before he spoke the contents.
... I guess you're looking forward to thinking about the subordination.
That's our king.
"Come here, then"
The demon king spread his little hand and reached out to me.
I smile and reach for what she wants.
Now I...
◇
"No, no."
"Fine......! Let the robe shine as you gently wield the wand more!
Pasha Pasha.
"Ha, ha. Um... here's the thing, is it?... yep do it"
"Kuh......! Or it's perfect, Kash! You're a genius! You're a genius monk!
Pasha Pasha Pasha Pasha.
In addition to Kash's voice from my office, I hear a rough woman's voice and shutter noise... I wonder if it's my fault.
I open the door only for a moment to escape such reality.
There - there was a shooting session going on.
I know who did it.
"What are you doing..."
Subhumans, that's too sloppy a classification.
In the first place, it's a word that stands on the human (normal) side of the majority.
Set aside the area, there are some fine classifications.
Speaking of subhuman dogs, for example, I refer to a species whose racial characteristics are found in the human body, as in Kash.
This is referred to as a dog beast man, which refers to a species of appearance in which the animal has evolved into a human form.
If you're a cow beast, Minotaur or something applies.
Aquatic demons have the same classification, and if you can see the characteristics of aquatic organisms in a person's body, mermaids, if aquatic organisms look like they've become human shapes, they're called fishmongers.
"Oh, it's not Mr. Staff. You've come to a good place, help me out."
They hand me the camera from the tentacles that have been stretched out all the time.
Of octopus mermaids, it's your sister.
Her upper body is a human woman and her lower body is an octopus tentacle arm.
The name is Sku, and he is the director of the office responsible for the Demonic Magic Body (Avatar) of Demon King Castle, its design, and so on.
She herself is also a designer, and she is the one who devised the Lemegeton costume?
These days, Lily's demonic figure, the [Deep Forest Archer] Strass costume, can also be something she asked me to think about.
"Fuck you - I'm conspiring...! How's that?
Kash approaches me, showing me how I came to light. [M]
Now she was dressed in a wizard's costume.
There seems to be a hole in the tongue hat for the dog ear, and Kash's dog ear pops up a little. The robe is flirty and the costume inside doesn't even look like some uniform. I was skirting.
It wouldn't have the ability to purify and compress magic, I have the wand props in my hand.
"Yeah, very cute...... it wasn't. You look intelligent."
"Really......!
Kash gives off a dazzling smile.
Mr. Scu couldn't stand the cuteness of Kash, or he fell into the couch.
It's tingly cramped, but it's the usual thing, so let's leave it alone.
"Ugh, yeah. You're a wizard today."
"Ha...!
Sounds like a long time ago, but right after he was hired by Demon King Castle.
I promised to go out with Mira, and I promised to go out with Kash as well.
So, one of the houses I went around when I was actually strolling around the back streets of Demon King Castle was Mr. Scu's office.
Mr. Skew liked Kash and wanted to wear various costumes to Kash by calling him the Magic Body Avatar candidate.
Kash seemed heartbroken that my future dream was my seventy-second contractor, but he had no consideration to pay.
But Mr. Skew said that was the price if only he would let me take the picture.
Since then, Mr. Scu, with Kash's approval, is like the fish that got the water.
This is how Kash's costume - for confirming the design before entering into the creation of the Magic Body (Avatar), so the actual fabric, not the magic, was used in the garment - was brought and photographed.
"Oh, I'll make some tea."
Once again, Kash heads to the water heating room.
I turned my gaze to Giroli and Mr. Scu.
"... you know that wizarding systems are hard to express to subhuman dogs, right?
"What are you talking about, Kash-chan's possibilities are endless!
Standing up, Mr. Scu shouted loudly at me.
"Yes, but that's not what I meant... you ran into a hobby?
Giggle! As much as I'm going to hear a noise, Mr. Skew's body bounces.
Kash is looking a lot more seriously for a future Magic Body (Avatar) candidate, but Mr. Skoo wants to dress Kash in a cute costume.
When I use the word 'cute', I can't tell you either because Kash, who is aiming for a great demon, gives me a look like 'eh...'
"In the midst of an infinite quest, I wonder what so much as a spoonful of hobbies mixed in?
"Ha..."
"Hey, stop looking at that nasty adult. It will hurt!
He's a personalized mermaid, and although he reflects his taste quite often, he wasn't dissatisfied because Kash seemed happy.
"It's a joke. Nevertheless, I don't think it was on this matter that I called you today..."
To get to the point, Mr. Scu finally got a crisp look.
He's usually an agile designer just because he's cash-related.
"Of course I'll take it. Yet you..."
"What is it?
"Perhaps the scariest thing about you... is your ability to connect with people."
I'm taken aback because she says it too seriously. [M]
"... I do think you're blessed with people"
"A contract on a ring is in the owner's favor. Once you sign a contract, you're free to call it out. Normally, I would hesitate to sign a contract saying I trusted you. I don't know when or for what reason. It's a very big choice."
"Right..."
"But you've got quite a few contractors in a short period of time. There are plenty of people who think you can serve. Amazing."
"... I want to make sure you don't betray my trust"
"Huh.... more than anything! Kash wants to make a deal with you! Don't be so jealous."
What can I say, Mr. Skew went back to his uncanny face again.
◇
After the meeting with her.
"Oh, um... Boo"
Take a breather on the couch with Kash back in his secretary.
"Yeah?"
Something troubling about Kash.
Dog ears that are always dripping with petans don't even look moist. Neither does the tail feel wobbly according to her emotions, nor does it feel like she's falling on the couch now.
He doesn't look well at all.
"I heard that [position (job)] can be seen at the age of ten..."
"Right."
"Even before I knew it, I heard it was aptitude..."
"Right. [Fist fighter] If you have aptitude, you've had a strong fight since you were a little girl, [painter] If you have aptitude, you can improve your picture faster, or even before [position (job)] is it hard to tell... Uh, yeah... there's something you can do well."
"Yes, right... Maka, your sister has been a good cook for a long time..."
Grabbing the hem of his clothes tightly, Kash leans down.
Mr. Maka is a [cook] holding, Kash's sister.
"Trouble?
The snort returns.
Then pounding, Kash began to talk.
After deciding to become a demon, Kash searched for his aptitude.
Fortunately, the Demon King Castle belongs to a diverse variety of demons, and Kash is loved by everyone, so he found time to hang out with a lot of things.
Mr. Marcosias, exercise with the werewolf group, show the black demon dogs their claws and fang attacks, learn the basics of the bow from Mr. Leraje in the dark elves, show Mr. Kimaris his necromancy in front of his eyes, learn to swim from Mr. Wepal the mermaid, and have Fulcus wear an archery - speaking of which, I heard that from the two rooms in the Inn at the time of the 'Primary/Beginning Dungeon' dispatch - that nothing weird happened except that Kym's nagging, that everyone in his dreams was dressed in made-up clothes, that Agares was always telling me what magic was all about - and so on.
Have you talked to the Demon King?
Seems like I've tried a lot, but most of them said I tried it at a time when I was heading to the original dungeon.
Still, Kash couldn't find the right fit for himself.
If you insist, you have strength, but it's a trait that's not uncommon for a dog sub.
Kash thought.
What if a [position (job)] in the battle system doesn't show up? Wouldn't it at least be a [position (job)] to help support, even if it wasn't a direct combat system?
What if it turns out to be a useless [position (job)] in the battlefield...?
"Kash......"
Lemegeton's welcome party, its return. We promised.
One day Kash will become a demon and my last contractor. [M]
There's no way I wouldn't have bothered because I'm a hard-working Kash on everything.
Some show overwhelming power at the age of ten, such as [Lake Brave] Lais Kun and [Destroyer] Fran.
I guess I couldn't even comfort myself because I was only eight years old for Kash, who watched that in the Reid game.
Young, young, strong are strong.
"Wow, I... that, I'll keep up the good work... so"
Shivering Kash voice.
I get up off the couch and kneel in front of her.
Gently, I looked up at her and was aware of her smile.
"Kash, who was your boss?
"... Huh? Sa, Sa Bo,"
"That's right. Is the staff member the one who judges hard-working employees by [position (job)] and thinks about whether they need it or not?
"- Eh."
Kash raised his face and shook his neck flat to the side.
"Chi, no......!
"Certainly [Title (Job)] is important. That's very, very important. It's what shapes many people's lives. But I don't think it's great enough for someone to decide their life before [position (job)] and distort that kind of person's decision"
Even if you don't get [the brave], like you had a [black demon mentor] child who went for 'the brave'.
"One day I will know Kash's [position (job)] and whatever it is, I will support what Kash wants to do. It can be different now, or the same."
Kash snorted.
"If Kash is to become a demon in the future, you will be the last contractor in any [position (job)]. You promised?
A girl with infinite possibilities puts tears in her eyes, but without spilling them...
"Ha...! I will become a demon and help you...!
That's what I said, I laughed.
◇
I had business that day, so I entrusted Mira with the role of sending Kash home, leaving Demon King Castle a little early.
"Why don't you have a cup of tea with us? - Oh, my God."
Something about a phrase that I don't seem to get along with for the rest of my life hangs on me.
It was a word you wouldn't experience either on the say side or on the say side, but I didn't know you'd be on the say side.
"... Race, huh?
Dark blue hair and eyes reminiscent of the deep sea. A face and short body still young. While the smile is full of confidence, I get the strange impression that it also has a child-specific affection.
[Lake Brave] Reis was there.
Like we said, there's also the figure of Fran, his childhood tamer.
Red eyes in bright white long hair reminiscent of rabbits. The whiteness of its skin and its beautiful, faceless face are such that they're likely to believe it even when they say it's a doll created by a renowned technician.
"I arrived earlier than I thought, so I picked you up."
"... Without me I would have made twelve mistakes on the road"
"Is that why I came with you?
The two were friendly and hand in hand.
Yes, the meeting place is different, but my business was to meet them.