CH 86

The Awakening of the Foolish Demon King......?

Translated by Mlzkzr

Edited by Mlzkzr

“Nephew-chan, I’ve come to play”

“Guhe!”

In my bedroom at midnight.

I suddenly received a heavy blow on my stomach, and I coughed so hard I was in agony.

I was asleep so I wondered what was going on, but when I tried to push them away, someone on top of me didn’t budge at all, as if they had roots growing out towards me.

“Play against me!”

With her characteristic endings and a childish, lisping manner of speaking, I knew immediately who she was, even in the dark.

Demon King Kaori.

The king of the neighboring country of Comotoria, who had been pleased with me, has recently taken a liking to me and has been following me around a lot.

“I’ve already resigned myself on that, but…… Can you at least come at a decent time? As I thought, I get sleepy at night.”

“That’s not going to happen. I’m going to be busy for a while, so I’ll amass my playtime with you now”

“You’ll be busy?”

In the dark, I stare at Kaori intently.

If this had been someone else or a normal human being, I would have thought nothing of it.

However, the other party is the most powerful creature on earth, the Demon King.

She is both a country’s king and a Demon king.

She has position, political power, and personal military power.

Kaori’s comment, “I’m going to be busy”, was a little too much for me to overhear.

“Why are you so busy?”

“There was another money problem.”

“Money?”

“That’s right. Comotoria receives taxes from the state in silver coins, but copper coins are more expensive than silver coins, so the officials make money off of them.”

“……What does that mean?”

“Erm…… I don’t know!”

“You don’t know!”

I quip at Kaori, who was still riding me like a horseback on the bed.

You’re a king, right?

“Ah, but I remember the words of Slave 999.”

“Hou”

“The government-issued rate of silver and copper coins in Comotoria is 1:100.”

Kaori’s tone of voice changed dramatically.

Apparently, she is reproducing the entire language and tone of voice of Slave 999 and the like.

“But in the market, the copper coins are worth more, at 1:50. The tax collectors would then order the people to “pay for the silver with copper coins,” and the copper they then will received would be converted into twice as many silver coins, with half going to the state and half to their own pockets―― it was something like that!”

“I see, I don’t understand it at all”

It’s some kind of a complicated scheme.

Somehow the rate of exchange? The deficit? What I know is that they have made big money with it.

Ah, I’ve read about it in an old book.

A long time ago, in a country that was isolated, the value of gold and silver was exactly the same.

Some of the people who could enter and exit the country took note of this and brought silver into the country, exchanged it for an equal amount of gold, and took it out of the country.

Because gold was more expensive outside the country, that gold could be exchanged for about three times as much silver.

In other words, with one entry and exit to the country, they were able to triple their assets on hand.

It’s the same kind of trick.

“I have to take care of that, so I’m going to be busy for a while. Before that, I want to have a lot of fun with nephew-chan.”

“……”

“Come on now, let’s go play now.”

“Before that, the reason for that is the high value of the copper coins, right. More importantly, it’s because they can melt the copper coins and sell them, right?”

“Oh, nephew-chan, you’re clever. You are saying the same thing as slave 999.”

“I see…… one more thing. You’ve been the king for hundreds of years, but have you always been in charge of internal affairs yourself?”

“But of course!”

Kaori gave a thumbs up and dexterously winked at me.

“I am the ruler of internal affairs in Comotoria. I can’t hit people because my mother said so, so I play domestic affairs to pass the time.”

“I see”

I don’t want to spend my free time doing domestic affairs though, but I decided not to quip on that.

“One more thing. Can you make weapons and armor hard and indestructible?”

“It’s a piece of cake! I am the Demon King after all!”

Kaori said, “Eh-hen,” and puffed out her thin chest.

“Mou, that kind of thing is already good. Hurry up and play with me.”

“One thing before that……”

I beckon Kaori and whisper into her ear.

“If that’s the case, then all you have to do is make every copper coin in Kaori’s country indestructible. With the power of the Demon King. That should solve it, right?”

Anyone can solve the problem of copper and silver coins if they can do that.

But no one can do that, no human being can.

However, Kaori is a demon king. It might be possible for her to do that.

Therefore, I advised her that.

And Kaori said she could do it, and moreover, she was willing to get on board.

“That’s nice! As expected of nephew-chan.”

“Is that so”

“I’m going to go back and do it right away! I’ll come back again next time!”

“More than that, don’t tell anyone that I was the one who gave you the advice. No matter what they ask you, just say that 『I’m the Demon King, that’s why I’m so amazing, I came up with the idea myself』.”

“Oh, as expected of nephew-chan, you are indeed very thoughtful. Yeah, that’s what I’ll do”

Kaori retreated from on top of me and jumped out the window.

After watching Kaori disappear into the night sky, I closed the window, crawled under the warm covers, and went back to sleep.

☆

One day a few weeks later, I was in my study reading my new photo book, 『Not Just Orthia』, when Lina came to visit me with an astonished look.

“You’re the one who gave that advice to the Demon King.”

“Eh?”

What are you talking about all of a sudden …… is it about that matter?

No, but I made sure to keep her mouth shut and Kaori was also in high spirits.

Somehow, I’m bewildered.

“Yes, the Demon king had denied it. She insisted that it was a method she had devised herself.”

“O,oh”

“However, there was no way that that foolish demon king could have come up with such a method on her own. Anyone from their neighboring countries who have watched her stupid administration for the last few hundred years knows that.”

Fo,foolish……

Is it really that bad, Kaori being a king?

“Since she is a Demon King, it’s meaningless. Though if she were a human king, there would be revolts and conspiracies occurring on a daily basis.”

“I’m rather beginning to wonder what she had been up to!”

“Such a demon king has made a move of God. She is gleefully telling us that she came up with the idea herself, but we all know that can’t be true. And.”

“A,and……?”

Gulped, my throat made a sound.

“You’re the one who has been getting along well with the Demon King these days. In other words, you came up with the idea ……”

“Ohffu”

Why is that.

Even though I confirmed it carefully, and Kaori also protected it.

In the end, I was exposed, huh……

“Offuu……”

I had no choice but to nod my head in the end.