Welcome to the Impregnable Demon King Castle

113 – With Reason and Heart

Once again, my new subordinates, excluding Cashew, are as follows.

Those of the Ellie party. The Undefeated Hero Ellie herself, the handsome, cool twin Black Sorcerers Lyner and Ryan, along with two White Sorcerers that came from the same village. One is the eloquent Kent, and the other is extremely loyal to his leader, Jean.

These five are here on a short term contract until the Raid Battle is over.

The Assassin Meadow, who is a Lamia. In addition to her Job, she possesses an excellent special skill. 

The one-horned Centaur, who can actually change from a human form to a Centaur form, the Beast Master Thea. However, it seems that her Aptitude for direct combat is high.

Lars the Minotaur is a Black Sorcerer. In addition to his racial characteristically large build, he came up with a training method of casting Black Magic on yourself on his own.

Five short-term and three permanent employees total up to eight people.

The remaining ones are Thor and Kei from the Elementary Level – Beginner’s Dungeon. Other staff members that are certainly no strangers to Furcus and I have also chosen to collaborate with us. Goblins, Kobolds, and Orcs.

No matter how suitable they might be for the All Level Dungeon idea, this is the Demon King Castle. It seems they all discussed among themselves to choose and dispatch the strongest among them.

After that is Fenix and Nicola. Berith’s appearance will fall a little short of what it looked like last time, or I should say, you’ll be able to see the difference between this and the perfect disguise it was last time. She seems to be trying something.

Fenix has settled with a Majin Avatar. He’s got horns, he’s got the outfit and…well, you’ll see. I’ll manage my Magical Energy somehow.

By the way, it’s difficult to deploy these two with short term contracts like the Ellie party.

It’s not impossible, but you would have to hire them.

Hiring two Heroes into the Demon King Army. Both of them are helping me out, but it isn’t as if there’s no risk involved.

What if their mask gets blown off and they were found out.

Especially Fenix, since he was the Hero who challenged this Dungeon last. If it’s discovered that he’s an ally, then it’s possible that rumors will spread that our last fight was just a game.

The same would happen with the one-on-one fight with Nicola.

Both friend and foe. The public cannot know that they are friends of Lemegeton.

I want to avoid the risk of having them sign a formal contract. Even under normal circumstances, that’s asking a big favor.

In that respect, the Ellie party is daring.

They said that they will not hide their faces and participate as a Hero party that allied with the Demon King Army’s Chief of Staff.

Any other Adventurer would be too terrified to do that, but not Ellie.

I guess someone who leads a party of Black Sorcerers and White Sorcerers into the high rankings is just different.

So it’s not like she’s doing this without thinking. There is also a secret plan there.

A plan that transcends the setting and excites the audience on top of cooperating with Monsters.

Therefore, I had all those that were notified of their employment gather here.

I give them a small greeting and immediately start showing them around the tenth stratum.

Last time, the place felt like a wide and long hallway, but Fenix went and burnt the whole place into nothing.

So this is the new tenth stratum, built to order from scratch, set to my preferences.

That is…

As soon as I transfer here to defend this area as it’s Floor Boss.

「Hey, Lemegeton. Your name is too long, can I call you Lem?」

「…Absolutely not.」

I reject Ellie’s suggestion. Calling me that would be problematic. That’s my real name, after all.

Incidentally, she is sitting on a high chair today, as well. Carried on the shoulders of two white-suited men.

「My, how surprising. I didn’t think you’d be particular about that.」

「I don’t mind if it’s a name other than that.」

「Oh my, so that’s how it is. Alright, no one would like being called a nickname they don’t want, I suppose. Since Lemegeton is a little long…hmm, how about Meg, or Get…no, doesn’t quite roll off the tongue…Len! How about Len?」

Connecting the first and last part of the name, huh?

「If you find that easy to say.」

「I do, quite easy. As an ally, I feel like we’ve gotten closer.」

That’s right, even though the document officially says that she is my subordinate, we are treating her as an ally.

Rather than a Hero who was subjugated by the Demon King Army, they have formed a united front for some reason. At least that’s the setting she put forward.

I have no reason to object, so I allowed it.

However, the three Demi-Humans seem troubled by the response. Actually no, not all. Thea is just humming to herself.

「I’ve thought about it. Reason and Emotion. The conclusion is as follows. You are the Reason, as the master of this stratum, so we should follow your instructions.」

「And Emotion is?」

「I follow my own heart. If you betray yourself, you would hate yourself, right? I don’t want that. I’ve always respected my own will, not someone else’s. I would like to do that this time as well.」

「And so?」

「But I also understand that it’s arrogant to declare that people should be allowed to do what they want in people’s homes. I mean, it’s like this, right? All I have to do is ask for permission to do whatever I want.」

Hmm. I’d like to avoid killing their mood by giving them instructions.

But in a battle that we cannot lose, having a military asset whose movements are a mystery to me, or how to control them when a problem arises is…

「There is no correct answer to this. If there is, it is merely an illusion. You’re worrying over it. Wonderful. You consider, seriously, even my arrogant words.」

「If there is no correct answer to this, then what is it that you want to say?」

I have a rough idea, but I don’t want to get it wrong so I don’t say it.

「You don’t have to be right, you just have to choose one. You just have to be prepared for whichever you choose. You could leave it up to luck with a lottery or rock-paper-scissors, but I wish for the decision to be made by doing something we are both good at.」

Ah, so I wasn’t off the mark.

In other words, she is proposing for us to fight to decide.

「I don’t use my magic on my allies.」

「Even if that ally is earnestly challenging you to a fight, you would ignore it?」

…My former allies, the Fenix party.

My colleague and swordmaster, Furcus, as the Black Sorcerer Lem.

Nicola, who I fought alongside, as the Demon King Army’s Chief of Staff.

I fought each of them seriously.

Regardless of the relationship, if it becomes a match, I give it all I got.

I just wonder if this is an acceptable reason to turn into a match.

「It’s good that you’re already in an Avatar, isn’t it?」

Ellie smiled happily.

…Well, it is impossible to ask someone to trust a boss who you haven’t seen do anything yet.

In their case, they are allies, but the other three behind them have yet to see me fight.

I thought that this was the perfect opportunity to show them.

「What are the rules?」

When I answered, Ellie jumped out of her chair.

「You decide. It’s five on one.」