Karos clicked his tongue.

“…Do you have any memories from before?”

“Memories? Hmm…”

“Never mind. Do memories get erased?”

Karos muttered as he watched the succubus struggling in his head. Bathesia looked at the succubus with curiosity.

“Summoning… not a contractual method. This is fascinating. No matter how strange it is, is it considered a Demon King’s ability?”

“I don’t know, so don’t ask me. Succubus, what’s your name?”

“Please name me, Demon King!”

“Let’s go with ‘Succu.'”

“Wow!”

Bathesia couldn’t help but mockingly admire the name filled with annoyance. The succubus, seemingly content, continued to hum her name as “Succu, Succu.”

“I don’t have high hopes, but just in case, what can you do?”

“I’m immune to physical damage!”

“That’s expected since you’re a summoned creature. What else?”

“Um… I can help you sleep well!”

“…Anything else?”

“Uh, nope!”

“…”

Karos held his head in his hands. Somehow, he couldn’t get a normal one to come out.

“I want to abandon everything and run away…”

No, he couldn’t. I’m the Demon King. Karos slapped his own cheek to regain his composure.

Lillis calmly brought up the topic.

“So, what about arranging the rooms?”

“I’d prefer to be with the Demon King!”

“Rejected. It could be dangerous in various ways, so sleep with the slimes. For now, I’ll take the office. Hmm.”

“What? Don’t be ridiculous! It’s only natural for me to use the biggest room!”

“This girl?!”

Karos grimaced, and Bathesia sneered.

“You have no magic power, and your abilities are at best half-baked, and you’re talking about what? Isn’t it only natural for you to yield to me?”

“Oh, you’ve lost it, haven’t you? Did you forget your current position? You must obey me if I give you an order.”

“Don’t fool around. Remember that your orders have no lasting effect. If you want to get beaten up and die, go ahead and do it.”

Bathesia revealed the restrictions placed on her. Simple: obedience to orders and no attacks.

She could carry out Karos’s orders, but he couldn’t give her an order that would lead to her death. She couldn’t attack directly, but she could set traps. However, if Karos were injured, she wouldn’t be able to return to being a Demon King. Depending on what Karos did, she could attack in various ways.

While the two of them growled at each other, Lillis sighed softly. It seemed like improving the relationship between these two was the priority.

Karos sighed.

“This is troublesome. Even if you can’t return to being a Demon King, it doesn’t matter. Fine. By the name of Demon King Karos, I hereby order Bathesia that from now on…”

“Cuuu!”

“What, what’s this?!”

As Karos was speaking, a slime flew in from the other side and stuck to his face, relentlessly slobbering all over him. Furthermore, eight other slimes rushed over and clung to Karos’s entire body.

“Oh, it’s the slime brothers.”

“What, what is this? Get off! Go away!”

“Cuuu! Cuuu!”

Karos tried to remove them, but even though they were the lowest-level monsters, they weren’t easy to pull away with his weak strength. In the end, Lillis stepped forward and peeled the slimes off. They made crying sounds and struggled.

“Cuuu. Cuuu.”

“They’re going crazy.”

Karos cleared his throat and looked at Bathesia. She was staring blankly at the slimes. Karos raised an eyebrow and Bathesia slowly spoke.

“Cu, cute.”

“What?”

“They’re cute! What’s that, slimes? Why aren’t the slimes I have like that?”

Bathesia approached Lillis with sparkling eyes and began to gently touch the slimes nestled in her arms. Karos mumbled awkwardly.

“…Huh?”

“They can share a room with me! It doesn’t matter if it’s small or large!”

“…Sure, do that.”

Karos nodded with a puzzled expression. Come to think of it, she did like cute things.

**** ****

“How’s the situation around here?”

Karos asked while pressing his forehead. Lillis, looking at some documents, responded.

“For the time being, there shouldn’t be any risk of being discovered by the villagers. The terrain is fine, and I’ve placed a barrier in front of the entrance. It’s not a very strong barrier, but unless someone highly skilled investigates, they won’t notice.”

“Hmm. That’s fortunate. If we get discovered and a punitive force is sent, it’ll be a headache.”

Karos tapped his desk thoughtfully. Despite everything, he had to keep up with his duties. Otherwise, a punitive force might come and wipe everything out.

Currently, there were seventy-two Demon Kings on the surface, constantly fighting. As a result, the surface had been fortified to optimize the killing of the weakest Demon Kings.

The most important thing for Demon Kings who descended to the surface was to hide their Demon King’s Castle.

If they were discovered by nearby humans, the information would immediately reach the lord of the area. The lord’s message would be relayed through the church, and the order to subdue the Demon King would be issued.

Then, adventurers and heroes seeking fame would come knocking. Even if they had powerful abilities, without sufficient forces, they couldn’t stop adventurers from swarming them. About 30% of novice Demon Kings on the surface died within a week.

“Still, it’s fortunate that the location of the Demon King’s Castle is okay. It would have been risky if it had been unnecessarily huge.”

“Yes. The location itself is perfect, as there’s nothing more to wish for as a Demon King’s Castle.”

She added briefly.

“Although it’s a bit small.”

“Quiet. I chose this location.”

Karos frowned. The Demon King’s Castle could be chosen by the Demon King themselves. Others might wish for grandeur, but he sought efficiency. As a result, while it was small, the location itself was quite good.

For now, he needed to solidify the position of his Demon King’s Castle.

It was the most critical task for survival.

Hyung_Otaku

I'm currently Translating the following novels: Pick Me Up! | A Frontline Soldier Awakened as a Gamer In The War! | The 100th Regression of the Max-Level Player. If you want to support me and read more chapters please subscribe to my Patreon!