Welcome to the Impregnable Demon King Castle

111 – Urgent Hiring! Would you like to work at the Demon King Castle? It’s a Cozy Place to Work 1

The persons involved in interviewing applicants for each stratum are the Boss of that stratum along with other upper management, and an HR department staff member.

The head of the HR department is Agares. Handling HR while being a part of the Big Four and also taking care of her Highness, although that last one is voluntary, he seems like a busy man.

As the Chief of Staff, my position is directly under her Highness as a formality, so I am required to attend almost all the interviews for every stratum. Due to several interviews proceeding at the same time in separate rooms, I wouldn’t be able to attend the interviews for the strata that I am to attend to and the tenth stratum interview, time-wise.

So I attended the tenth stratum interview.

The conference room was appropriated as the venue, with a huge oval table and chairs arranged around it. This time, people sat on the side with the gentlest curve of the oval.

It was arranged so that one side would have four interviewers, including me, and the other side would have one applicant.

The interviewers were me, Milla, a Majin from HR and Furcus.

Except for the Majin, we were all in our Monster outfits.

The recruitment called for those who have the mettle to defeat Heroes, but perhaps because it didn’t have specific requirements as the other strata did, there were a large number of applicants.

No, it’s possible that people are taking those words lighter than I thought.

By the time half of the interviews were over, there were still zero people who fit the bill.

「I believe there were some applicants who passed the mark, ability-wise.」

Said the blond Majin with a bob cut. She was female, with horns growing out the sides of her head. They grew in a spiral pattern and were black.

We were making some light conversation after we had gotten through half of the interviews.

「That’s…true. But in battle…how should I say this? It isn’t as if you can determine the outcome of a battle by simply converting abilities into flat numbers and comparing them.」

「Even so, would it not be better to have the ability to overcome it?」

「There certainly is that way of thinking as well, but it isn’t my priority.」

「Do you think that having the mettle to defeat Heroes is enough to make up for one’s lack of ability?」　

「I believe that the most important thing is a person’s will. The will to achieve your goals no matter what it takes. I think it would be tough to fight together as a team if they don’t share that point of view. Things like personality, age, gender, and principle could be all over the place so long as our goal is the same. If there is only one thing that is necessary to become one as a group, I thought that maybe it’s that.」

「…Among the candidates so far, there were many that said that they and only they would defeat a hero.」

「They were merely all talk. You can tell just by looking at them.」

Said Milla as Carmilla.

「We don’t need those who talk big despite having an untrained Magical Energy Organ and body.」

Continued Furcus as the Black Knight.

「…If so say you all. However, at the rate we are going, we might not hire anyone and Lord Chief of Staff will be in trouble.」

「Yeah. That’s true, but…」

And so, the second half of the interviews.

「The next candidate…are Normal applicants. A group of five who wish to be hired on a limited time contract. Well, they are…Adventurers, after all.」

Just like me, Adventurers becoming Monsters isn’t against the rules.

However, it is very difficult for Adventurers, who tend to move a lot, to have a side job as a Monster, who usually lie in wait in the same place.

This party wishes to settle their employment after a short period of time, long enough to see through the Raid Battle.

「Ah, this party caught my interest. Their party composition is two Black Sorcerers, two White Sorcerers and a Hero, and they are within the top 100 ranked, which is very rare for Adventurers.」

It’s just as Milla said.

I’m not sure when she told me, but among the top 100, there are only three Black Sorcerers there, including me.

Since I am no longer in Fenix’s party, there are currently only two.

And those two belong in the same party.

They succeeded in standing out despite having two Black Sorcerers and two White Sorcerers. Two jobs that are treated coldly by the industry. But Adventurers are not so naive that they can survive on that alone.

If it was just a novelty, they would have garnered a lot of attention temporarily, but people would soon tire of them.

Her party is-

「I was getting tired of waiting!」

The door opens.

A red carpet comes tumbling through as a beautiful woman comes floating in, sitting on a gaudy chair. No, not floating. The chair she’s sitting on was being carried by two men.

One person was in charge of rolling out the red carpet, two were in charge of carrying her chair, and one was in charge of fanning her with an eccentrically large fan.

Counting the beautiful leader, that was five in total.

The Black Sorcerers wore black suits, and the White Sorcerers wore white suits. The four of them were young and handsome.

And the one leading them, the Undefeated Hero Ellie.

An extremely confident-looking beautiful woman with silvery gray long hair and eyes.

「A pleasure to meet you, Demon King Army! And also, rejoice! For my manservants and I are here to lend our strength for the upcoming Raid Battle!」

They are ranked 95th. They rank higher than Nicola, Philip, and Mark’s party.

Their battle strategy is very simple.

The two Black Sorcerers will weaken the enemy, while the two White Sorcerers buff Ellie.

And then Ellie will defeat all the enemies.

It’s simple, but what’s amazing about it are their Clear results.

In all of their posted Clear videos, they have never once been defeated. What’s more, Ellie herself has never been damaged once.

Even those who thought that those four would be a burden, can’t say anything after seeing the Clear videos. No, that’s not entirely true. The naysayers say this…

The Hero’s ability far surpasses that of anyone in the party. If the other four people were strengthened with better Jobs, they could go higher.

But that opinion is off the mark.

Only for this party, this composition is correct.

However, no one in the party brings it up, and to the rest of the world, they are flashy Adventurers who stand out by their appearance, composition, Ellie’s character, and brilliant Clears.

It wasn’t just with their first impression, their ability was also enough for them to break into the high rankings.

「R-right… well, please have a sea- …you’re already sitting, right. Ah, how about the other four? Please, have a seat… oh, you’re fine as you are? …Alright. Well, first off, what is your reason for applying?」

「You. Are you a moron?」

The HR Majin’s eyes twitched.

「You are seeking those with the mettle to defeat Heroes, are you not? Whoever wrote that is exceptional. Seeing that, I simply had to apply, because of course I have what it takes to take down a Hero!」

Oh, really?

Everything comes naturally to her.

I can see it in her eyes.

The applicants so far were either lacking in confidence, shy, or conversely, brimming with confidence. Those who know how hard it is to take down a Hero, have no confidence, and those that do not, say whatever they want. Those were the two types so far.

However, Ellie is different. She herself is a Hero. So she definitely knows how to take one down.

On top of that, they are going to defeat the Heroes participating in the Raid Battle.

There isn’t a single hint of hesitation in the faces of the other four as well.

「But, you are ranked 95th」

「So? If rank decided who wins or loses, then the rankings would never fluctuate.」

「No, but-」

「You’re hired.」

「Lord Chief of Staff?!」

The Majin was surprised at my words.

「I look forward to working with you.」

I say in Lemegeton’s tone.

「As expected of the Chief of Staff, you have a discerning eye. You won’t regret this, I assure you.」

Ellie gave a smile filled with confidence.