The legendary Black Werewolf King, Veight Von Aindorf, served as vice-commander to three generations of Demon Lords over twenty years, starting with Friedensrichter. He was a living legend whose name was known across the continent. Right now, he was sitting across from a former imperial prince of Rolmund, Ryuunie. After being exiled from Rolmund, Ryuunie had built up the Battleball City of Doneiks with his uncle Woroy and was now the city’s viceroy.
In a firm voice Ryuunie said, “I’m not going to become Demon Lord.”
After a brief silence, Veight said, “Please, I’m begging you. Airia’s held the position for far too long. Leading the Demon Army through these turbulent twenty years has taken its toll on her. People will start to complain if power remains concentrated in the Aindorf family’s hands. Surely you understand that?”
“I do, but...”
Veight had saved Ryuunie’s life and taught him a great deal. He didn’t want to let his teacher and savior down.
He frowned and said, “I’m not confident I can do a good job as Demon Lord. At the very least, if you were willing to stay on as my vice-commander, I might consider it.”
“I’m afraid not.” Veight shook his head. “As I said, we can’t have the same people monopolizing power forever. I’m an amateur when it comes to politics, and I’m getting old. It’s about time I retire.”
“Then I’m afraid I can’t take the job,” Ryuunie said, puffing his cheeks out like a small child. “Besides, why’re you asking me to take over all of a sudden? Is there a secret motive you’re keeping from me?”
Veight smiled awkwardly and said, “See, you have the insight needed to be Demon Lord. The truth is there’s a reason Airia needs to retire now.”
“And that is?” Veight grinned.
“You sure you want to know?”
“Of course.”
Blushing a little, Veight proudly said, “She’s pregnant.”
✦ ✦ ✦
I listened to mom and dad’s conversation as we drank tea in the parlor.
“I wish I could’ve shown you Ryuunie’s surprised face,” dad said excitedly.
“You didn’t call him here to shock him, dear,” mom said with a smile. “But in the end, he refused to take over, right?”
“Yeah. Well, not quite. He said he understands the situation, but that becoming Demon Lord is a heavy responsibility that will impact his entire family, so he went back to Doneiks to discuss it with Woroy.”
Woroy had stepped back from active leadership and was enjoying his retirement, but his idea of a fun retirement generally meant leaving his mark on history in novel ways. He was a lot like my father in that regard.
Dad took a sip of his tea and let out a sigh. “Ryuunie really wants me to stay on as vice-commander...but I’m not sure that’s a good idea.”
I grabbed a cookie and asked, “Is it an authority issue?”
“More or less. If I stay on as vice-commander, people will still think the Aindorf family controls the Demon Army. I don’t want people assuming Ryuunie is our puppet,” dad explained.
When I was younger, dad sometimes told me not to butt in on adult conversations, but now he was taking me seriously. I guess that meant I was an adult. Well, barely, but still.
Dad folded his arms and stroked his graying beard.
“The people of northern Meraldia and southern Meraldia have different origins, and the Aindorf family is from the south. It’ll look like the south is trying to monopolize power if we keep letting southern families become Demon Lords.”
“And that’s why you want Ryuunie to succeed you? Because he has stronger ties to the north?” I asked.
“Exactly. Most people think Ryuunie was banished from Rolmund after losing the political struggle with Eleora. While the northern viceroys are worried that granting him asylum might give Rolmund an excuse to invade again, they also have high hopes for him as one of the rising stars of the north.”
The northern viceroys saw their southern counterparts as rivals, but their relationship with Rolmund was far worse. It was mostly the current empress Eleora’s fault, but that had all happened before I was born, so it was ancient history to me.
I nodded in understanding and said, “But because Ryuunie’s one of your students, you think he’ll be fair to the southern viceroys too? After all, you can grill him if he starts showing favoritism.”
“I don’t plan on interfering with his policies, and honestly, I don’t think I’ll have to. But, you’re absolutely right. Both the northern and southern viceroys trust Ryuunie. He’s best friends with Myurei too.”
I also thought Ryuunie was the best candidate to bridge the gap between the north and the south.
“What do the demons think of him?” I asked.
“The Demon Empress technically ranks above the Demon Lord. If Master Gomoviroa approves of Ryuunie, then no one will dare complain.”
Good point.
Dad trusted Ryuunie, which meant all the other demons would too. Even the more belligerent demons trusted dad with their lives. They believed in strength above everything, and dad had taken down three Valkaan. Killing even a single Valkaan is a legendary feat, but dad had beaten three. Even if he retired from being the Demon Lord’s Vice-Commander, everyone would still look up to him. If he gave the word, thousands of demons would line up to fight for his cause—probably tens of thousands, or even hundreds of thousands.
I gave dad a stern look and asked, “Hey, Dad. You know even if you try to make yourself unimportant, everyone’s still going to come to you for advice, right?”
“Maybe, but I think it’s about time I faded from the public eye.”
“That’s not gonna happen...” Even if dad wanted to just be a normal person, he was too famous for that now. I could tell he was tired of the hero treatment everywhere he went.
Mom smiled sadly and said, “The people best suited to be Demon Lord are the ones who don’t want the job. You don’t want to be Demon Lord either, right, Friede?”
“There’s no way I’d do a good job, and dad always says making important positions hereditary is a bad thing. Even if I was the best choice, it would set a bad precedent.”
I remembered from my lectures that the northern viceroys were worried the Aindorf family would monopolize the Demon Lord’s seat. At the time, it felt like a silly thing to worry about, but now that I was older, I could see it from their perspective. That’s why I definitely couldn’t be the next Demon Lord, no matter what. Honestly, the biggest contribution I could make to society was to avoid ever becoming Demon Lord.
“I have a few other candidates in mind for vice-commander, but the problem is Ryuunie wants me specifically. He won’t agree to becoming Demon Lord for anyone else, even though all the people I picked are more than capable of doing the job...” Dad folded his arms and lapsed into thought. He really didn’t want to keep working. “I enjoyed my time as vice-commander, but I think it’s time I retired. I’ve served under three different Demon Lords, you know?”
“It’s true. Everyone associates the Demon Lord’s Vice-Commander position with the Black Werewolf King,” I said.
No matter who became Demon Lord, as long as dad was their vice-commander, everyone was happy. They trusted him to lead the demons down the right path, as he had so far. Unfortunately, that made it even harder for him to retire.
“Either way, we definitely need a new Demon Lord. Mom had a really hard time giving birth to you, and I don’t want her to deal with the stress of work on top of everything.”
“You had to cut her stomach open to get me out, right?”
Dad had told me that they called that a C-section, or cesarean section, in his old world. Here, the procedure was dubbed D-section for Demon Lord, with mom being the first person in history to undergo it. Normally, cutting open a person’s stomach would kill them, but the medical ward at Meraldia University had managed to standardize the procedure. Now people from Rolmund and Kuwol came all the way here to get a D-section if they were worried about having a difficult delivery. It was a very expensive procedure with only a few people qualified to perform it, so unfortunately, only nobles and wealthy merchants could afford it right now. Currently, it was impossible to save all pregnant women from dying in childbirth, but it still saddened me that we couldn’t help everyone who needed it.
“Do people who get a D-section need them for all of their deliveries?”
“That’s how it was in your dad’s old world, at least. So I’m expecting to need a D-section this time too. But don’t worry, medical technology has advanced a lot since then. I’ll be fine.”
I didn’t even know it used to be a dangerous procedure. I guess that even with advances in medicine, giving birth is still risky.
Mom gently rubbed her belly and said, “If anything, I’m more worried about dealing with morning sickness again. I was out of commission for quite a while when I was pregnant with you.”
“You told me that story before, but was it really that bad?”
“For a few weeks Wa’s mochi was the only thing I could stand to eat. Having it now brings back memories of those days. I don’t think I can handle Demon Lord duties while going through that again.”
“I see...” That did sound pretty bad. Sorry I’m such an unreliable daughter after you went through all that trouble to give birth to me.
Dad nodded and said, “We need to lessen your burden, but it’ll be better for both Friede and our new child if they’re freed from the expectations of living up to our accomplishments, so I really want to get a replacement as soon as possible.” Dad turned to me with a grin and said, “Once we’re freed from the trappings of power, both you and your new sibling will be free to choose whatever path you want in life. Seeing you both enjoy your lives matters more to us than fame or power.”
“Ahaha...” I murmured.
While I was happy about that, I still felt a lot of pressure. After all, I hadn’t decided what I wanted to do with my life. I didn’t even know what I enjoyed doing. Maybe this will make dad happy though.
“Well, right now I want to go to Lotz. Is there any council or Demon Army work I can do for you while I’m there?”
“I guess you could deliver the new salt pump Lotz asked us to design since it’ll be finished today... But why do you want to go to Lotz?”
“Ehehe, you’ll see,” I said with a grin.