Chapter 237
A notice was posted on the walls of various places on the 25th floor. It was a recruitment announcement seeking people to work at the Demon King Castle. It was a call for public servants.
The announcement stated it was looking for individuals in various fields, including internal affairs, finance, and security, which attracted the attention of those originally interested in politics and administrative work.
“Four days?”
“Isn’t that too short of a time?”
There were many who thought so, but the phrase attached to the announcement stating, “We are hiring talents who can start immediately,” clarified the situation for most. It seemed they needed manpower and intended to conduct a simple test before immediate deployment.
Nevertheless, many people responded to take the exam, and a massive number of applicants gathered at the test site. When they received the exam papers, most displayed the same reaction.
“…?”
They had question marks floating over their heads. They encountered difficulties right from the first question. Even flipping to the next page did not lower the level of difficulty; it only increased.
‘W-What’s going on here?!’
Most of the applicants reacted like this. However, a few outstanding individuals quickly began to jot down their answers.
The phrase about hiring talents who could work immediately was widely misunderstood by the applicants; in reality, it meant they were looking to select “veterans” who would have no problem being deployed right away.
In the end, most applicants left the test site without even completing half of the problems, with only a small number managing to finish the questions.
And the supervisor overseeing this examination,
“The girl made the problems difficult, it seems.”
Ersha Scarlet wore a quite satisfied smile. She lightly organized the graded exam papers, stood up, and returned to the Demon King Castle to deliver them.
“…So these are the individuals who passed the exam?”
“Yes, Nahun.”
Seere and Nahun looked at the selected candidates filtered through Ersha’s exam. There were far fewer of them than they had expected, leaving them somewhat bewildered.
“…What about the personality tests? You said those were to be conducted too.”
“The head maid and the head butler conducted those. All those who passed the test did so as well.”
Only then did Nahun understand why the number of candidates was so low.
‘So that’s why there are so few….’
They had taken a challenging exam, and on top of that, they had undergone personality tests, so there was no way there would be many.
“Will things really run properly like this…?”
“It’s alright, Teacher. There’s never been an issue with ongoing tasks before. Even a small increase in manpower will make things easier.”
“…Yeah, I guess it feels like a temporary solution.”
“Yes.”
Seere asked Ersha.
“Which departments were these individuals selected for?”
“From the first row, starting with the Ministry of Finance, Ministry of Internal Affairs, Ministry of Security, Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Ministry of Environment, Ministry of Construction, Ministry of Agriculture, and Ministry of Justice.”
While there were many different titles, there were only two or three candidates selected from each department, so it wasn’t a large number.
“We chose people from the basic fields first. If additional departments are needed later, we can recruit more individuals.”
“Hm….”
Seere pondered for a moment before asking Ersha.
“Is the Ministry of Justice really necessary? I have no intention of handing over my judgment rights.”
“That doesn’t mean you should hand them over. While the final decision-making authority lies with Your Majesty, if trivial matters come up on Your Majesty’s desk, it will increase your workload, right? So the personnel in the Ministry of Justice will handle minor issues on their own and report them to Your Majesty.”
Having lived in 21st-century South Korea, Nahun thought this was obviously necessary, but it seemed that Seere, the central authority known as the Demon King, found it somewhat puzzling.
“What about the Ministry of Security? The Legion is currently responsible for security, and we can’t dedicate separate troops for that.”
“It’s more efficient to gather personnel to exclusively handle security rather than pulling forces from the Legion. This allows the Legion to concentrate on military-related duties, as do the Legion commanders.”
“That seems like too few people to recruit for that.”
“Those here are obviously the ones handling related administration, while the personnel for the Ministry of Security need to be recruited separately.”
Since these were things that hadn’t existed in the Demon King Castle before, Seere asked Ersha various questions. Some of her questions seemed to be what Seere already had an idea about, but she still asked to confirm.
Nahun briefly looked over the candidates selected by Ersha. Since they had passed Leah and Cain’s assessments, there were no clueless individuals or those who seemed of poor quality.
‘It looks like the atmosphere won’t be ruined.’
As Nahun thought this, Ersha spoke to Seere.
“There’s something that Your Majesty will need to handle gradually.”
“Something to do?”
“Yes. You will need to appoint the heads of each department, or in other words, ‘ministers.’ They will help implement existing policies at the new levels when we move our headquarters.”
“Isn’t it just a matter of picking them based on grades?”
“No. I think it would be best if you waited to decide until you see how the successful candidates work.”
“Oh, that works.”
Seere nodded. There were ambiguities involved in assigning a supervisory position to someone based solely on grades when it was uncertain who would perform well.
“You’ve worked hard, Ersha Assistant.”
Seere said this and addressed the successful candidates.
“Congratulations on your passing. I hope you work diligently for me and our forces from now on.”
““Yes, Your Majesty!””
The successful candidates replied vigorously. This marked the moment the Debata Castle laid the foundation to transform into a full-fledged central government.
#
After concluding the earlier matters, Nahun headed to the reception room with Seere. There had been a guest waiting since the morning.
When Nahun opened the door and Seere entered, a female demon king having tea in the reception room slightly raised her head. Her beautiful platinum hair swayed gently as her curvaceous body moved lightly. She smiled at Seere and said,
“Seere, how have you been?”
“Citri, congratulations on your victory!”
It was Citri. One could say she had played a significant role in conquering the 31st floor this time.
“Your expression has blossomed. I can clearly see how pleased you were when you won.”
“Of course! Why would I feel otherwise?”
Citri shot back in response to Nahun’s teasing remark, but it didn’t seem she was genuinely upset. Seere sat across from Citri, while Nahun stood behind her. Citri gestured for Nahun to sit.
“Just sit down. No need for formality.”
“I’m not sure what you mean, but I’ve always been formal.”
“That was just a given back when you were simply an aide. Now I know all about your relationship with Seere.”
“…I haven’t actually accomplished anything yet.”
“Why all the pretense?”
Citri chuckled, and Seere slightly reddened and waved her hands.
“C-Citri, why are you here? You said you had something urgent to discuss.”
“Ah, right. I wanted to talk a bit with Nahun.”
“Me? Teacher?”
“Hey, Nahun.”
Citri said,
“Don’t you need talents?”
“Yes? Of course I do. Why are you stating the obvious all of a sudden?”
“If so, I picked up someone useful.”
Citri crossed her legs slightly. She looked at Nahun with quite a confident expression. Seeing that expression gave Nahun a peculiar feeling.
‘…Why do I feel uneasy?’
Something about Citri’s confident and seemingly superior expression didn’t sit well with him. As Nahun slightly narrowed his eyes, Citri quickly changed her expression and continued.
“You might like them. Decide whether to accept them after seeing them once.”
“…Are they coming now?”
“Yep, Baphomet!”
Not from the entrance where Nahun and Seere had entered, but from another doorway, Citri’s subordinate Baphomet came in.
“Have you been well? Seere von Debata.”
“Yeah.”
“This person is the one mentioned by Citri.”
Baphomet briefly went outside and returned with a bound man. Seere found no particular interest upon seeing the man tied up, but Nahun was taken aback.
“…Where did you find this guy?”
“Right? That reaction is expected. He was one of Asmode’s underlings. You have a discerning eye, don’t you?”
Nahun’s surprise stemmed from the fact that the person brought by Baphomet was a character who also appeared in the original game.
‘…It’s Jest.’
Jest. He was one of the capable generals that could be recruited in the middle of Ebel Queen Maker.
‘Was he originally from the 31st floor? But in the game….’
In Ebel Queen Maker, he could be joined only after conquering exactly the 28th floor, meaning he was originally a character that could be recruited after defeating Astharoth von Hoda.
While it was a bit odd that he had been working under Asmode on the 31st floor, Nahun thought it was just another change made due to his intervention, like many others. He regained his composure.
“Interested?”
When Citri asked, Nahun slightly nodded. Upon seeing the teacher’s interest, Seere finally began to show interest as well.
“Do you want to use him?”
“If you find him interesting, Your Majesty can make use of him. Why are you offering him to me?”
“Because I want to express my gratitude for the support you provided in various ways this time.”
“…I did nothing in particular to deserve thanks, and it was actually Seere who did it for me.”
“Then I’m giving him to Seere? Not you.”
“Who doesn’t know that?”
“Just kidding, just kidding.”
Seeing Citri waving it off as a joke, Nahun let out a slight sigh and moved on. Seere said to Citri,
“Talents are always welcome. Thank you, Citri.”
“Thanks to the Sixth Legion you sent, the war ended in a perfect victory. I can afford to do this much.”
“However, did he say he would switch sides? Isn’t the author’s will the most important factor?”
In response to Nahun’s question, Citri simply replied.
“That’s something you will decide now.”
“Isn’t that just killing time?”
“What kind of talk is that! I brought him here for you. Are you saying if you don’t need him, I’ll take him back?”
“…No, that won’t be necessary.”
Citri let out a dismissive snort and stood up. She then smiled and greeted Seere again.
“Seere, I’ll be going now. I still have work to do, so I should leave soon.”
“Let’s talk again for a longer time next time. Take care, Citri.”
Citri indeed seemed busy and left the reception room right after saying her goodbyes. After Citri left, Seere turned to Nahun, who was looking at the bound Jest.
“Teacher, how did you know?”
“About what?”
“Whether this person has talent or not.”
Nahun pondered for a moment. He couldn’t simply say it was because he was a character he originally knew. Since Nahun had not actually participated in battle, he had no chance to assess Jest’s capabilities.
So, reluctantly, Nahun could only give a very vague answer.
“…I’m just good at reading people. It’s an intuition.”
“…Intuition?”
“Yeah.”
Seere cocked her head at the vague answer, but Nahun quickly changed the subject and spoke to the bound Jest.
“So, do you think you’re going to start a new life here?”
“…No, thanks. It’s evident that I won’t receive proper treatment here. The great Demon Kings will look at someone like me as if I’m nothing, and my voice will be regarded the same way. All Demon Kings are the same.”
Jest’s skeptical response made Nahun pause for a moment. Suddenly, he reached out and grabbed Jest by the collar.
“Gah!?”
“Do you know what you’re rambling about? Did you just recognize that what you just said is an insult to not only our military but also to Seere von Debata, who leads them?”
Nahun was quite angry about Jest insulting Seere with falsehoods, regardless of how talented the person might be.
“The Debata army has never treated anyone properly. Those with talent are rewarded with the recognition they deserve, and those without are still given opportunities. What do you know to speak like that?”
“Ugh, ugh…!”
As the pressure in Nahun’s grip increased, Jest’s throat began to tighten. As Jest’s face contorted in pain, Seere grabbed Nahun.
“Teacher, he’s a talent, right? He seems to have some circumstances. Let’s listen to him.”
“…….”
Nahun released Jest’s neck. Jest gasped for air, and Nahun spoke to him.
“I don’t know what treatment you received, but don’t judge everything by your own understanding. That’s a bad habit.”
“…So does that mean the great Seere von Debata will truly give me a chance?”
“You don’t have to sneer; if you have talent, it’ll happen.”
The latter part was not spoken by Nahun but by Seere. She, with a serious expression in her eyes, continued.
“Forget about how you were treated on the 31st floor. I keep those with talent close and value them; those without do not stay with me. That’s the only way I differentiate people.”
Seere then asked,
“Which side will you be on?”
“…….”
Jest looked at Seere. Then, observing Nahun beside her, he spoke.
“I can confidently say that I can support Your Majesty closely in place of that man.”
“…….”
Seere appeared slightly surprised, and Nahun fell momentarily silent. It was a bold statement, but the veins on Jest’s forehead bulged. Soon thereafter, with a chilling aura, Nahun’s magic began to exert pressure on Jest, making it hard for him to breathe.
“Gah…!!”
Jest’s body broke out in goosebumps. Not only was there a terrifying aura, but he could also feel the oppressive force of magic tightening around him. Despite the sudden fear that struck Jest, he did not retract his statement.
“Teacher….”
Feeling the magic of Nahun swirling around, Seere tried to calm him.
“Teacher, that just shows he has confidence.”
“I know, I know.”
“You understand that, yet why do you keep scattering your magic? It keeps interrupting the conversation.”
As Seere looked at him with a slightly playful gaze, Nahun sighed and retracted his magic.
Seere felt satisfied. Though she feigned concern, Nahun’s change in demeanor was very pleasing to her.
Nahun’s anger at that moment essentially served as a warning that this was his place next to Seere, and he wouldn’t let anyone encroach upon it.
Seere looked at Nahun with a satisfied smile, then turned her gaze back to Jest with a somewhat serious expression.
“I understand your aspirations, but making a statement like that just now would be wise to avoid.”
Seere smiled brightly and added,
“Our Teacher has a strong sense of exclusivity, you see.”
#
Jest blinked his eyes as he exited the reception room and entered the indicated room. Just moments ago, he had been released from being bound in the reception room, and he had immediately been summoned to the office to receive the Debata military uniform.
Seere spoke to him as she handed over the uniform.
“While Teacher has absolutely no doubt about your abilities, you will have to prove it for yourself. So I will assign you a task.”
Seere gave him one task. As Jest recalled the task she had given him, he discarded the military uniform from the 31st floor and donned the newly received uniform.
“Prove it.”
