I Am the Weakest of the Four Heavenly Kings but the Demons Are Obsessed With Me

15 – Undercover Identity

When I visited the secret branch of the organization, the branch manager who had been present during my last mission report greeted me warmly.

“Ah, you’ve returned?”

“…This place really lacks atmosphere.”

“Atmosphere?”

“Well, being a secret organization, I thought there would be things like a passphrase to distinguish ourselves…”

“We don’t need to bother with such things when there’s hardly anyone bold enough to impersonate us, right? Passcodes can be misused if they’re leaked.”

“True, I suppose…”

“hehehe, shall I come up with a password for next time?”

When I placed my identification badge against the stone ledger the branch manager offered, it glowed, and my visit was logged. The old-timers would surely be informed about my visit straightaway.

The magic identification badge was efficient but… what’s the word, it lacked romance.

It felt like carrying around a driving license in a fantasy world.

“There’s no need to go to such lengths… Could you just find me a decent place to live? I plan to rest until the hero hunts the demon lord.”

“Would you prefer a safe house?”

“It doesn’t quite matter. Even a normal house would do.”

“It’s tricky when there’s too many choices…hm, do you have any preferences for the type of residence?”

“I’d prefer somewhere without any ties to the hero or the demon lord’s forces…”

“That might actually be harder to find… Hmm, oh, what about this?”

What the branch manager handed to me next were documents pertaining to a concealed identity.

Papers detailing a profile plotted for a temporal instructor position at the academy. It was somewhat out of the blue to be given these documents during a conversation about housing.

“Isn’t this data regarding a residence, not given to me by mistake?”

“Ah, you’re right. Actually, I had a mission to infiltrate the academy for a semester… But you know how such missions get suddenly canceled or something like that, right? So, the fake identity I prepared beforehand became somewhat ambiguous. Since the academy provides accommodation too… I thought it would be fine if you could take it over for a semester, sort of like making it a side job. Honestly, we’re in a bit of a bind too…. Ah, if you could take this on, besides the academy’s salary, separate action expense will also be provided.”

“I’m currently on a long-term mission, would that work?”

“It’s not precisely a mission, you only need to use the identity. As it would be a waste to unnecessarily allocate manpower there…. We’re a little vexed, so if you could….”

Hmm.

It’s a clear makeshift arrangement, but there was nothing particularly unfavorable for me.

Teaching kids, that wouldn’t be so difficult. As long as the hero doesn’t take down the demon king in a semester, the schedule shouldn’t get mixed up.

It might just be good enough to hold onto as a side job while taking a quick break.

“If the academy finds out that the part-time lecturer is a half-demon, wouldn’t they be startled?”

“They’d be a little startled, but… the personnel manager and the director’s agreement is done, so it’s okay. There’s no saying that you’re not a half-demon.”

“You handle matters quite flexibly….”

“hahahaha, thank you.”

“I’ll do it.”

“You’ve relieved a burden, thanks.”

So, while trying to find a house, I ended up finding a job.

It’s a contract job for six months.

‘Academy….’

Will it feel like a university?

*

The demon world. Demon King’s Castle.

The Demon King was sitting in his office, carving wood with a carving knife.

Because the traditional board game he used to enjoy had disappeared without a trace. With no choice, he was resurrecting his memory and personally making the game pieces. There probably were demons familiar with this game among the Four Heavenly Kings, and the older demons…

That being said, ordering such a thing would seem a bit unbecoming…

Unable to keep up with the changes of times that resurrected every few centuries, there was nothing he could do.

“This is a bit difficult….”

The Four Heavenly Kings’ Rain’s aide… was her name Scarlett?

Ever since this succubus started handling the affairs of the Demon King’s Castle, the workload on him suddenly decreased. Most of the tasks were wrapped at Scarlett’s line, and his task was to sign the final approval document.

Compared to the past, where the demons would check every trivial thing for fear of offending the spirits, the current system was extremely convenient. It was spare to the point of boredom.

There was no need to screen the final interviews of the new recruits to Demon King’s castle. No need to verify multiple details of headache-inducing administrative documents. He ruled, and the Four Heavenly Kings administered.

This system was exceedingly rational. Even if he were to be defeated by the hero and sealed for hundreds of years again, as long as the system did not crumble, the demon world would continue to prosper and develop. Waiting for the day he would resurrect again.

Every time he resurrected after dying, it was not bothersome to see his Demon King Castle in shambles.

Of course, ideally, it would be best to beat the hero.

“Hmm! This piece seems well-crafted.”

– “Your Highness Demon King, may I come in?”

“Ah, come in.”

The visitor to the Demon King’s office – as always, it was Scarlet.

Scarlet was carrying a pile of documents that indeed seemed to number in the hundreds.

“All of these need Your Highness’s final approval. Please sign.”

“Just wait a moment.”

The Demon King quickly skimmed through and signed the documents one by one. His reflexes allowed him to read everything in an instant, even though much of it was difficult to fully understand.

The administrative system of the Demon King Castle had become so advanced that even the Demon King found it hard to understand. All of this was Rain’s achievement as one of the Four Heavenly Kings.

“All done. We seem to be hiring a lot of new demons this time?”

“Yes, sir.”

“More jobs is good. Since Rain and… you started managing, the finances of the demon king castle have been improving. But it seems like the resources consumed by dungeons have increased quite a lot?”

“Due to the hero’s faster-than-expected growth, we are counteracting by expanding the range of our invasion. The resources in question were reported to be used for the restoration of the old dungeons.”

“Thank you for the explanation. You may leave now.”

“Understood.”

Even if there were any queries about the documents, Scarlet would explain everything in detail. There seemed to be an increase in the resources consumed in the Demon King Castle, but the incoming resources were also abundant, so there seemed to be no problem.

It would have been quite stressful to directly worry about each and every one of these matters.

Now, expressing gratitude to Rain, one of the Four Heavenly Kings who had been slain by the hero, the Demon King began to carve the wood with his chisel again.

For some reason, it felt smoother than usual. He had a feeling that a masterpiece was about to be born.

*

The Demon King was hopelessly incompetent.

While reigning over every single demon, he spent his time leisurely creating toys. It was hard to believe such a person was their leader.

Rain was not like that.

As he left the Demon King’s office, he remembered Rain leading everyone as their leader.

– “Rain, you don’t have to work this much even if you are one of the Four Heavenly Kings, right? I wish you would rely on us more. Because Rain, you are our leader.”

– “Thank you, Scarlet. I rely heavily on you all. That’s why I can’t help but work harder. Because I don’t want to waste your time on meaningless tasks.”

– “I do not consider time spent for Rain to be wasted.”

– “hahahaha, thank you. But that’s not what I mean… I want to use your time more efficiently. To rely on you more, I need to first create an environment where you can do more.”

“Rain’s words are difficult to grasp…”

Now, I can understand what Rain meant.

It was because of Rain’s transformative impact that we can prepare so much at this juncture. Without Rain, even after centuries, such changes would be beyond our wildest imaginations.

We were being utilized for Rain’s sake. The system left by Rain was what set us in motion.

To fulfill Rain’s will.

To make this demon world more equal.

Everything.

For Rain.

“Rain…”

I entered Rain’s office.

There, Rain’s followers, those who embraced his will, were gathered.

“Lady Scarlet, you’ve arrived.”

“Report.”

“We’ve successfully extracted 17 relics from the Temple of the Netherworld. It seems that the ‘potion’ made from the flowers provided by Lord Magenta has shown notable effects among humans. They felt as though they’d experienced the divine touch, a soulful fulfillment.”

“We’ve secured a contract with the overworld’s merchants to periodically supply us with magical tools from the wizard towers. Those blinded by gold aren’t likely to break the contract. In fact, it might be possible to encourage competition and acquire even more tools.”

“We’ve obtained 231 firestones from the Red Demons of the Flame Zone. Currently, they’re in storage across various dungeons with Lord Slurg’s cooperation.”

“Here’s a list of those who have spoken irreverently about Lord Rain and their remarks, as well as a separate list of those who reported them.”

“Hand it over.”

“Here you are.”

Most of those who had dared to slander Rain were from the so-called ‘mainstream demons’—not the top-tier dragon kin, but those with ambiguous power.

The majority harbored discontent with the current regime of the Demon King’s court, incensed that the ‘minority species’ were receiving equal treatment. Some also nursed grievances over the Demon King’s failure to appoint a new fourth Demon King.

Utter fools. Did they really think they could compare themselves to Lord Rain?

Considering the large number of new demons we had decided to employ, creating vacancies didn’t seem like a bad idea.

They had handed us the perfect pretext.

The position of the Four Heavenly Kings was for the Demon King alone to decide. Since they dared to challenge the King’s authority, executing them using the King’s name shouldn’t pose much of a problem.

Ah, it would be best if it were done in front of the demons who had reported them. Gathering the mainstream demons who were present when the insolence was spoken would surely imprint upon them the gravity of their crime.

Granting rewards to those who made the reports at the same occasion wouldn’t be amiss either. It would be perfect if they fought amongst themselves.

“Let’s settle on these two. Shall I personally wield the sword?”

“If it’s agreeable to you, perhaps we can also test the relic at the same time?”

“We are all equals, you know that, don’t you?”

“I will ensure that there are no problems whatsoever.”

“Everything is for the revolution.”

“Everything is for the Demon Realm.”

An ordinary demon using a sacred relic would either die or become half-crippled, unable to withstand the divine power of a goddess.

It would be like a prisoner and an executioner dying together in an explosion…

But somehow, that didn’t seem like such a bad prospect.