NOVEL NEXT Chapter 244
“Let me introduce myself once more. I am Bel, the witch from 500 years ago.”
In a gathering with our party, with Lucius sitting beside me.
“And there was a clone that looked just like me. Her name was Asydia.”
“A clone…you say?”
“Yes. A clone. A being born from me. Such a being existed.”
I decided to organize and manipulate information about myself to clarify the relationship between the Asydia organization and me, as well as to clarify the ambiguously known information.
“I’ll call her ‘she’ for convenience. She established a complete ego and believed that the Demon King must be resurrected to save the world.”
From the start, everyone was in shock.
“And she created an organization called Asydia. For about two hundred years, they probably didn’t commit any major wrongdoings and only focused on the Demon King’s resurrection, right?”
“Yes. According to records…at least for two hundred years after the Demon King died, the continent was peaceful.”
“Ironically, everything began to change after my clone…Asydia left the organization. So, was this organization inherently evil from the beginning? Was the resurrection of the Demon King truly wrong?”
None of the five could easily find their words.
“If there’s an answer, it could be stated as ‘It’s wrong from a human perspective.’ Isn’t that right?”
“Yes.”
If one knows the truth.
If one understands the perspectives of other races.
While the attempt to resurrect the Demon King may not be acceptable, one can at least ‘understand’ why it was done.
“The organization called Asydia believes that the Demon King’s resurrection is necessary to liberate the demon race oppressed by humans. My clone…did just that.”
It can’t be helped, as it’s common knowledge that the salvation of the world and the survival of the Demon King cannot coexist.
“This will be hard to comprehend.”
It’s just nonsensical ramblings to create justification for myself.
“But back then, that was the case. Humans oppressed other races, and those who thought only humans were superior were everywhere. The world belonged to humans, and all other life forms were inferior.”
“Could that possibly be related to the Ancient Gods?”
“Similar.”
– The Ancient Gods created numerous races to eventually create humans through various trials and errors.
– Therefore, all races that are not human are merely byproducts of the process of creating humans.
– Consequently, the being that resembles the gods most, the ultimate creature created by them, is human, and this can be evidenced by the Moon Goddess taking on a human form.
– In conclusion, all other beings are inferior and only humans are dignified and noble!
Since returning from Sky Island, my party members have started to flesh out Asydia’s meager story on their own.
“Human superiority. Elves, Orcs, Dwarves, Demons, Beastmen, all races excluding humans were considered inferior and inferior beings. And the Demon King gathered them to create the Demon King’s Army.”
“A large army made up of the oppressed…. That is the true nature of the Demon King’s Army…!”
“That’s how it was.”
A lie.
No, it’s half a lie.
“Oh, well, it might not be strictly that way. Just because the result is good doesn’t mean the process or intention was good. Right? Something that started with impure intentions could very well end with everyone having a happy ending. Wouldn’t that be so?”
I organized the Demon King’s Army for my own comfort and merely exploited the animosity towards humans.
“…I understand now.”
After a moment of silence, Lucius slowly opened his mouth.
“Now I understand why the Demon King’s Army of Belselphia still supports and follows the Demon King. I see why Asydia is still trying to resurrect him.”
“…….”
What is he trying to say while looking at me with such solemn eyes?
“To them, the Demon King must have been a hero. A hero of the demon race, a savior, a god of demons who came down to this land.”
“That’s…not quite true.”
Hearing Lucius say that feels somewhat embarrassing.
“Well, in reality, it was probably just luck that things turned out well while I was trying to use them, right? Isn’t that so?”
“The Demon King may think that way himself, but in the end, the process and results were all for those belonging to the Demon King’s Army.”
Ah.
Oh dear.
I’m feeling awkward.
“I once read a book about a greedy guild leader.”
“Oh, I know that one. The story of the greedy guild leader, right?”
“That’s right, Droniel.”
Droniel jumped in right away.
It seems like a story that’s passed down within the kingdom, a sort of fairy tale.
“What story? I’m not familiar with it.”
“It’s just an old tale. The greedy guild leader was a person with an insatiable desire for money. So, he worked his subordinates to the bone.”
“Not just worked them hard, but he was extremely focused on efficiency. He had them eat breakfast, go to work at 10 AM, and as soon as it hit 5 PM, he forced them to leave and would close the guild’s doors.”
“Uh-huh.”
…It sounds like the work hours of the Demon King’s Army.
It’s funny that there are working hours in the Demon King’s Army, but still, shouldn’t there be some set regular working hours?
‘Otherwise, people would work themselves to death.’
Even the undead soldiers who died and were resurrected were given working hours so they could live freely outside of work.
Would the work in the Demon King’s Army be so hard that they would end up losing to the Hero and the Human Alliance later on?
Such a thing is impossible.
It would be better to hire more people for less work to meet the desired quotas.
“Sometimes, when they had to work late into the evening, they would feed them dinner and have them work at night. They even paid overtime.”
“That’s only natural, isn’t it? If you’re making someone work outside of set hours, you have to pay them. Isn’t that the only way to improve efficiency?”
“You’re telling the same story as the guild leader in that tale. Do you happen to know it?”
“How would I know? This is the first time I’m hearing of it. I was sealed for 500 years.”
In body.
“Just continue.”
“Right. So, when the greedy guild leader made them work more than the set hours, he paid them more to encourage them to work harder. He expanded the guild significantly through that. There are various stories in that process.”
As soon as Lucius realized that he was paying attention to Droniel’s voice, Droniel cleared his throat and continued his tale.
“He would send sick employees home saying, ‘If you’re not coming in tomorrow because you’re sick, you’ll only lose more, so go home and rest today!'”
Isn’t it only natural to send someone who’s sick home, so they don’t lower the overall morale?
“In the middle of the chaos, if an employee had an anniversary for their wedding, he would let them leave work early to buy a gift for their wife.”
If the wedding anniversary is ruined, that couple will hold a grudge for life.
An employee with a family is less likely to easily give up their job for their family, and it’s the guild leader’s duty to protect that family and keep it from falling apart.
“For employees who made results, the greedy guild leader would randomly take money from his pocket and hand it to them.”
If it’s personal money and not guild funds, isn’t it fine to give as much as he likes?
It’s also only natural to meet requests for performance bonuses, and by rewarding appropriately before they have to ask for higher demands later, he can really lower the ceiling for future salary negotiations.
“There were many other examples, but the memorable episodes are about this much. The book was quite thick.”
“What? That’s not an old tale but a book about the leadership of outstanding organizational management!”
A story disguised as a fable.
There must be a reason why it took on the form of a guild, given that the kingdom or empire exists.
“What an amazing fairy tale. I want to read it.”
“It’s a tale that has many aspects of a model case, but in some regions, it has even been designated as forbidden.”
“Why? Such a good book?”
“…Back then, it was said to be a book depicting the management method of the Demon King’s Army through a fairy tale.”
“Pffhahaha!”
It’s absurd.
“So, does the guild leader die at the end of the story?”
“Yes.”
“…….”
“After the greedy guild leader died, the guild was dismantled by those eyeing the guild’s assets. They extended working hours, forced workers to do overtime, and committed various illegal acts until they ultimately went bankrupt.”
“Is that the ending?”
“Yes. It’s the original story. The book was so well-structured that there aren’t really any derived stories.”
What an interesting book.
“So everyone mentions this story’s lesson, ‘The importance of a ruler with strong charisma.'”
“Some regions are referring to the church.”
“I understand.”
No wonder it would be designated as forbidden.
“It’s probably easier to sell a novel modeled after a guild leader than to write a book like ‘How the Demon King’s Army Captured the Continent’. That way, you’d evade censorship.”
If they’re truly writing about the Demon King’s Army I led in that way, and if someone read it without realizing it was a story about the Demon King’s Army…
“Did they find out that the story they read with deep impression was actually about the Demon King’s Army? I would have kicked my blanket off the bed.”
It transforms into a fairy tale proving the excellence of the Demon King’s Army and the Demon King’s abilities.
“Who wrote that?”
“It’s said to be ‘Pigrítia.’ A famous fairy tale author.”
“……Hmmm.”
Pigrítia.
pigrítĭa.
In ancient language, it means ‘sloth.’
If there is a word that means that in modern Demon Language, it’s ‘Acedia.’
“I’m a bit annoyed. Who holds the copyright for that?”
“Copyright? What’s that?”
“You know, the thing I heard in Belselphia. The rights to creative works.”
“Oh, right. I remember now.”
“…….”
This is why the human world is hopeless.
When the Demon King’s Army was alive, the concept of copyright was still intact, but it was lost with the downfall of the Demon King’s Army.
That it only exists in Belselphia is just too sad.
“…Well, I guess I get the gist of it. Let’s save the story of the past for another time when we have more time.”
I projected an image onto the screen in the command room.
“I don’t know what the Demon King’s Army of the past was like, but the present Demon King’s Army, or ‘current Acedia’, has been corrupted. This is true for both humans and other races.”
The video materials I saw through the eyes of Blue Bell.
The video materials I saw through the eyes of Purple Bell.
“I won’t explain in detail since you saw it yourself. Well, you don’t need an explanation of grotesque and gory biological synthesis rituals, do you?”
Those were all scenes of various abhorrent experiments conducted by the Asydia organization.
“So our goal is this.”
There are two.
“Overthrow the Pope. Overthrow Asydia.”
“…Excuse me?”
Everyone, except Lucius, pointed at the suddenly appearing blonde young man.
“What is that?”
“Oh. That.”
Come to think of it.
I haven’t explained it yet.
“The Pope was the Demon King. The Demon King, Lucifer!”
The Saintess and the leader of the Holy Knight Order fainted.