Chapter 16

Generally speaking, the king did not patrol the territory, be it the Empire or the Duchy. However, the Demon King seemed to be different… It seemed that the structure of the Demon Race was like a kingdom.

He could tell this from her previous words. Previously, it had mentioned that the [rebels stopped offering tributes], so the so-called Demon King was actually a feudal lord in a sense.

The Demon King would only be responsible for the Demon King’s Territory, and the other lords were responsible for their territory… The Demon King was a recognized king. It was more similar to the Alliance Master and not the Emperor, so patrolling the territory was the most important thing.

Rebellion against the Demon King? This is a relatively bad situation… No, I don’t have to care about this.

Ira analyzed like this. He did not need to care about the good and bad things in the Demon King’s Territory. As long as he nurtured the Demon King into a king who could fight, he could leave after returning this favor.

With a casual thought, Ira left the castle with Celina and Satan Leaf under the protection of the Headless Horsemen.

Generally speaking, the nobles patrolled the territory on horses or in carriages. The nobles usually raised their beloved horses, but this did not seem to be popular in the Demon King’s Territory. Perhaps it was because they did not raise horses…

After all, the Headless Horseman, who was a knight, brought his own horse. They did not need to raise them or farm them.

From this point of view, it was very reasonable for the Empire to lose every battle before the Consul appeared.

The location of the head was also replaced by flames. The pitch-black horse armor reflected the light of the Netherworld. This pressure was indeed not something ordinary warhorses of the Empire could match.

Ira, who was sitting on the handsome warhorse of a certain Headless Horseman, thought to himself. He looked at the owner of the headless warhorse walking beside him… He felt a little sorry for the fact that he had occupied his warhorse.

“According to the arrangement, we’ll head to the blue mushroom field and other planting fields from here to check the situation of the poor harvest that the demons said. We’ll patrol all the way to the sea and return to the Demon King City.”

Celina, who was also riding a warhorse, told Ira about the arrangements. She looked at the surrounding residents of the Demon King’s Territory who were bowing to the patrol team and said, “It’s normal for the residents to be curious about Mr. Ira. I hope you can understand.”

Ira naturally understood this. He looked at the surrounding fairies, insects, crustaceans, goblins, kobolds, inferior demons, and so on, as well as the vampires who were hiding in the shadows and bowing… He felt a little strange.

“This place of the Demon King’s Territory seems to have a different system from the Empire.”

As he spoke, Ira looked at the lively demonic creatures around him and said, “In the Empire, the residents are divided into slaves and ordinary residents. The former is the property of the emperor and nobles, and the latter is the citizens of the Empire. The Demon King’s Territory seems to be different.”

Ira, who had seen the noble’s territory, knew very well that if the commoners needed to be described as pale, the slaves in a territory really did not have any human rights.

The orders of the nobles were everything to the slaves, and all their earnings belonged to the nobles. Even if they ate the gains from their own hard work, it could be considered a reward from the nobles.

If the noble took a fancy to the daughter of a slave, that slave had to obediently hand over his daughter and send her to the noble’s castle… Those slaves were still alive, but they were long dead inside.

Although the conditions in the Demon King’s Territory did not look good, the gazes of the residents… were even brighter than the ordinary residents under many noble territories in the Empire.

“Yes, Mr. Ira.”

Satan Leaf, who was riding with Celina, nodded in agreement with Ira. She said, “Everything in the Demon King’s Territory is my personal property… As expected, in terms of ‘demon rights’, it can’t compare to the Empire?”

Listening to the unwilling Satan Leaf in his words, Ira did not know what to say. In other words, were they all slaves? However, their attitudes toward life were completely different.

The demons on both sides of the street did not tremble in the face of the Demon King’s arrival, nor were they extremely afraid. They did not even kneel. They only bowed. Although their faces were a little haggard, they did not have any envy or fear of the Demon King’s power.

Ira only saw respect.

“How much will they hand over to the Demon King City? Or how much will they hand over every quarter?”

To Ira, who could not help but ask, Celina explained in a strange manner, “But the harvest can’t be good every time… Therefore, they naturally hand over the excess only.”

“…”

Looking at Ira, whose eyes were flickering and silent, Celina did not know what he was thinking. She continued, “Don’t worry, the fairies leading them will rely on their experience to keep them until the next food they harvest. The rest will be handed over.”

“…”

What Celina meant was that she thought that Ira was worried about the diet of the demonic creatures in the Demon King’s Territory… However, Ira only remained silent. It was an incomprehensible silence.

“It seems that the sanitary conditions in the Demon King’s Territory are similar to the border area of the Empire…”

Ira said softly. He deliberately avoided the topic of slaves and residents. Looking at the feces that could be seen everywhere on the road made of soil… the demonic creatures did not even seem to have the habit of digging latrines.

After leaving the castle of Demon King City, after stepping out of the bridge of the moat, Ira, who had stepped onto the dirt road, could smell an unpleasant smell… Such conditions would usually appear in the territory of the Empire’s nobles. They would not exist in the Empire’s capital.

“There were originally special demonic creatures to clean, but now, there are seriously not enough people.”

Regarding Celina who said this, Ira nodded again to show that he understood. He looked at Satan Leaf sitting in front of Celina… Poor little Demon King, she had yet to find a topic to join in the conversation.

“How about building toilets… There’s no need for that toilet in the Demon King City. You only need to dig pits to make latrines.”

As he spoke, Ira looked at Satan Leaf. He asked the little Demon King who did not know that Ira was suggesting it to her and was a god, “Satan Leaf, what do you think? How about digging a few latrines in the Demon King’s Territory?”

“Eh? Eh…”

When Satan Leaf heard Ira’s words, she thought about Ira’s suggestion, but she did not understand the meaning of doing this… However, the surrounding smell was indeed not very pleasant.

“Yes, let’s do as you say, Mr. Ira.” Satan Leaf replied.

“…”

Looking at the silent Ira, Satan Leaf tilted her head and asked in confusion, “What’s wrong?”

“Then, who’s in charge of this? You should personally find someone who can be in charge of this and instruct them, or arrange for me or Celina to make arrangements with your decree.”

Ira taught like this.

“Is that so? Then, Mr. Ira, help me…”

“…”

Ira was silent.

He, who could not remember how many times he had been silent today, kept feeling that he was manipulating the Demon King. He kept feeling as if he was an evil minister holding control in the background.

He did not want to become such a person, but… he could not help but admire Satan Leaf who could hand everything to her subordinates without worry, although she might not be “trusting” but “naive”.

“I understand. I’ll follow your orders.”