Kays Translations
Just another Isekai Lover~
Chapter 100: “Demon Lord Rukie Receives the Magical Beast Investigation Report”
──Several hours after Thor’s group captured the fortress──
“We have received a report. Raisenga’s unit captured those responsible for summoning the magical beasts.”
“Ooooooh!”
At the words of Demon Lord Rukie, her subordinates cheered loudly.
The scene was the throne room of the Demon Lord’s castle.
Demon Lord Rukie sat upon the throne, with Chancellor Kelve standing beside her.
Before them stood the Minotaur captain, Flame General Raisenga’s adjutant, and the elf troop leader.
They cheered at the news that the new species of magical beast no longer threatened the border.
Chancellor Kelve then gave a detailed explanation of the investigation’s results.
The Cleaning Robots created by Thor had played a major role.
The person who summoned the beasts was the commander of an Imperial fortress.
Raisenga and the unit from Noza Town had headed south in pursuit of an escaped magical beast.
“What surprised me most was that the summoner was an official soldier of the Empire,” Chancellor Kelve said.
Chancellor Kelve said.
“I had thought the culprit was a wandering magician, or perhaps someone from a country destroyed by the Empire. Someone who infiltrated the Empire to acquire summoning magic and disrupt its territory by summoning beasts.”
“But it turns out, the culprit was a regular soldier in charge of the Empire’s fortress.”
“That’s correct. Your Majesty, what do you think this implies?”
“It likely means an unknown faction exists within the Empire—either a secret unit created by the upper echelon or a rebellious organization.”
“The Archduke and the Imperial Princess seemed unaware of these matters.”
“Which means there’s a possibility that the Empire is internally divided.”
Demon Lord Rukie sighed beneath her mask.
“Should we be appalled that the Imperial family is so careless, or impressed that such a vast nation can function while divided? Either way, the magical beast threat is gone. For now, we should celebrate.”
“I agree.”
Chancellor Kelve nodded.
“Now that the culprit is confirmed to be a regular Imperial soldier, responsibility lies with the Emperor and the Council of High Officials. This has been conveyed to the Imperial Princess and Archduke Kharon. If anything similar occurs again, we’ll lodge a formal protest and demand action.”
“That should make the matter easier to resolve.”
“Indeed.”
“…The purpose behind the beast summoning remains a mystery, but for now, we can breathe easier. Going forward, we’ll protest to the Empire and demand information, as well as compensation appropriate to the damages we suffered.”
“──Based on that, I have something to propose to Your Majesty and Chancellor Kelve!”
Suddenly, the elf mage-unit commander raised his voice.
With a serious expression, he looked up at Demon Lord Rukie.
“If there’s division within the Empire, might we be able to exploit it?”
“I just said, didn’t I? We’ll extract detailed information about the incident and compensation for damages from the Empire.”
“No, I mean using the rebellious factions inside the Empire.”
“Explain.”
At Demon Lord Rukie’s prompting, the elf commander stood.
He looked around at Demon Lord Rukie, Chancellor Kelve, and the others.
“If there’s a faction within the Empire that opposes the Emperor’s will… might we secretly support them? If they cause chaos within the Empire, it could weaken the Empire’s power.”
“…Hmm.”
“If civil war breaks out within the Empire, the Emperor and officials will have to focus their efforts on dealing with it. By exploiting that weakness, we might gain various benefits from the Empire. In some cases, we could extend our borders further south and expand our territory.”
Finishing his speech, the elf troop leader puffed out his chest with satisfaction.
“…As an idea, it’s interesting.”
“Well then, Your Majesty!”
“But your plan has a fatal flaw.”
“──!?”
Twitch!
Behind Demon Lord Rukie’s mask, her red eyes fixed on the elf commander.
The force of her gaze made the elf commander tremble.
“W-what’s this flaw…?”
“First, we can’t trust those who summoned the magical beasts at all.”
Demon Lord Rukie said.
“They summoned the Magical Beast Gargarossa within the Demon Lord’s Domain. Things ended well only because we defeated it. Our people and lands could easily have been harmed. How could we trust anyone who would do such a thing?”
“There’s no need to trust them! We would just use them—”
“The second problem: have you forgotten Princess Sophia in Noza Town?”
“…Ugh.”
“She’s extremely clever. If we repeatedly contact rebellious factions within the Empire, Princess Sophia will notice. Her family includes Princess Liana, the Princess of the Holy Sword, and Princess Liana is close to Archduke Kharon, a former Sword Saint. If those people oppose us, the cost could be severe.”
At Demon Lord Rukie’s words, the elf troop leader’s eyes widened.
He had apparently forgotten about Princess Sophia and her associates.
“The third problem… you should learn a bit from history.”
“Learn from history…?”
“Have you forgotten what happened when the first Demon Lord fought humans?”
Demon Lord Rukie looked directly at the elf commander and everyone else present.
“Before the first Demon Lord went to war with humanity, humans were already fighting among themselves. Yet after a minor clash with the Demon Lord’s army, they forgot their disputes, united every human nation, and faced the Demon Lord together.”
Even in the era of the first Demon Lord, humans fought each other.
However, when skirmishes occurred between humans and demons or demi-humans, the humans completely forgot their own internal strife.
Thus, to defeat the ‘Evil Demons and Demi-Humans,’ humans united as one.
As a result, eventually a hero was summoned from another world, and the Demon Lord was defeated.
Demon Lord Rukie had heard that history until she was sick of it.
For that reason, the Demon Lord’s Domain avoided intervening in the Empire’s internal conflicts whenever possible.
That policy had been passed down through generations in the Demon Lord’s Domain.
“Finally, this is my personal view. I want to remain someone who need not feel ashamed before Thor Canaan, our guest from the Empire.”
Demon Lord Rukie murmured almost to herself.
“If we interfere in the Empire’s civil strife, aid wicked people, and cause bloodshed in another country, we’ll likely rely on Thor Canaan’s items. I would be ashamed to do so.”
“…Y-Your Majesty.”
“In an open and honorable battle, I would proudly borrow his strength. But could you tell him, ‘We intend to interfere in your homeland’s civil war, so lend us your magic items’?”
“…Ah, a-ah, aah.”
“It seems Thor and I’ll have a long relationship. I don’t wish to do anything shameful before him or wound his pride. This is merely my personal opinion as Demon Lord Rukie Evergard. If you object, speak now.”
“I apologize! It was a thoughtless remark!”
The elf troop leader bowed deeply.
Shaking violently, he pressed his forehead to the floor.
“I had forgotten about Thor Canaan-sama. That there are trustworthy people within the Empire… and also others with power beyond my imagination… I’m truly sorry!!”
The elf troop leader continued apologizing in a trembling voice.
“The fact that an Imperial soldier summoned the magical beast proves that some within the Empire look down on the Demon Lord’s Domain. I simply couldn’t tolerate that.”
“I understand your feelings. I also understand your loyalty.”
“However, I have realized the foolishness of my remarks. If there really is someone with power equal to Thor Canaan within the Empire… my schemes would be seen through immediately…”
(No, no, there can’t be many like Thor.)
—Just as she was about to speak, Demon Lord Rukie covered her mouth.
Instead, she shook her head and gently admonished the elf commander.
“I understand your feelings. We’ll continue gathering intelligence within the Empire so that we can respond to any situation. That should be acceptable.”
“…Yes, Your Majesty.”
“Think about this as well. During the recent subjugation, the Demon Lord’s Domain cooperated with Noza Town’s unit and captured the culprit. By working together, we built trust—as though we had gained allies within the Empire.”
Demon Lord Rukie looked around at the assembled people and nodded.
“I would rather choose the path of increasing allies than making enemies.”
Taking a breath, she continued.
“Furthermore, as the elf commander said, schemes and plots have long repeated themselves in the human world, and humans have shed blood because of them. Demons and demi-humans need not imitate humanity at its worst.”
“Yes, Your Majesty!”
“In any case, the matter of the new species is settled for now. Reassure our subordinates. When General Raisenga’s unit returns, we’ll hold a victory festival. You have no objection, Kelve?”
“The plans are already in place.”
Chancellor Kelve produced a sheet of parchment.
“As soon as General Raisenga returns, we’ll host a victory banquet at the Demon Lord’s castle and a festival in the castle town. The castle will distribute alcohol and provisions, so inform the townspeople.”
“Understood, Your Majesty, Chancellor!”
“The festival—everyone will be so happy!”
“Let us all go welcome General and Agnis-sama together!”
The elf commander, the Minotaur captain, and Raisenga’s adjutant raised their voices together.
Their cheers must have been heard in the hallway too, for joyous voices echoed from outside.
The news would quickly spread throughout the castle.
“Now then, this concludes today’s audience.”
“Thank you all for your service.”
“We beg your leave!”
The attendees responded to the words of Demon Lord Rukie and Chancellor Kelve.
Thus, the report on the magical beast summoning incident came to an end.
“Taking advantage of the divisions within the Empire… Others considered the same strategy, I see.”
After the commanders had left, Chancellor Kelve let out a sigh.
“I considered it myself as well. But I rejected the idea—it’s far too dangerous.”
“A wise decision. If we were to intervene, the humans would forget their internal conflicts. What would follow is the same as in the days of the first Demon Lord… the formation of a united human coalition.”
“Humans do quickly band together when they find a common enemy.”
“Indeed… and sometimes, they make demons and demi-humans into that ‘common enemy’ just to unite themselves.”
With those words, Demon Lord Rukie’s expression grew firm.
“In any case, don’t slack off in intelligence gathering. Whether or not there’s civil strife in the Empire, we need to know what’s happening in that country.”
“I’ve already sent civil officials to the Trading Post to gather rumors.”
“…Come to think of it, there was a civil war in the Empire once before.”
Holding a letter delivered by a winged pixie, Rukie murmured with exasperation.
“If I recall correctly, that last civil war in the Empire… happened before I was born, didn’t it?”
“Yes. According to oral history passed down in the Chancellor’s household, it was several decades ago—during the reign of the Demon Lord two generations before you. Back when several small nations still remained to the east. The fortress General Raisenga had headed to was likely constructed around that time.”
“I heard the borderlands were quite turbulent back then.”
“The Empire stationed large forces along the border, likely to prevent the Demon Lord’s Domain from intervening in its civil war. Because of that, we learned almost nothing about the Empire’s internal affairs. However…”
“We did provide asylum to some refugees from the Empire, didn’t we?”
The number recorded was three.
Two of them died shortly after the Demon Lord’s Domain took them in.
They had apparently survived fierce battles, with arrows still embedded in their bodies.
Only one young girl survived. Her trauma erased her name and origins, though the man who accompanied her worried for her until his final breath. That much was recorded in the histories of the Demon Lord’s Domain.
That girl later fell in love with the young elf who rescued her. They married and had children.
Her descendants are now most likely chasing magical beasts alongside Thor.
“What’s different this time is that Princess Sophia is in Noza Town.”
Demon Lord Rukie let out a sigh of relief.
“She desires friendly relations with the Demon Lord’s Domain. As long as she’s there, the borderlands won’t be sealed off.”
“There’s even a trading post now. We receive information from within the Empire too. These are good times.”
“Well, that’s largely thanks to Thor’s achievements.”
“……That’s true.”
“…Why the distant look?”
“…It’s nothing.”
“Kelve. Are you still uncomfortable around Thor?”
Demon Lord Rukie looked at Chancellor Kelve with exasperation.
“Thor is, well… a good person, you know? His ideas are just a bit unexpected, his technology is ridiculously advanced, and what he does is beyond imagination, that’s all.”
“That’s exactly the problem…”
Chancellor Kelve pressed his forehead as if he had a headache.
“My duty is to analyze based on information, build logical frameworks, and make realistic predictions and plans. But Lord Thor skips all the processes and arrives at unpredictable outcomes… It’s difficult to deal with him as Chancellor.”
“Thor seems to respect you, you know?”
“I don’t dislike Thor-sama either. I respect him. I just struggle with him in my role as Chancellor.”
“Tell him that when he returns.”
“…Please let me think about it.”
Knock knock, knock.
“Excuse me! A letter has arrived from a winged pixie!”
Along with the sound of knocking, came the voice of a guard.
Chancellor Kelve opened the door and received the letter.
After briefly scanning it, he said,
“It’s from Thor-sama. It appears to have been written after the previous report.”
Saying so, Kelve handed the letter to Demon Lord Rukie.
“It seems the winged pixie accompanied them as far as the eastern fortress.”
“Yes. She said she disguised herself as an owl with the Role-Playing Pajamas and followed from a distance.”
“But Thor-sama added a note: ‘The winged pixie doesn’t want to enter a place crowded with Imperial soldiers, so we’ll separate here. The next report may therefore be delayed.’”
“Thor and his group pursued the magical beast deeper into the Empire. That would be too much for a shy winged pixie.”
Demon Lord Rukie unfolded the letter she had received.
“This contains the results of the Cleaning Robots’ deployment and a message of thanks to Kelve. The Spherical-Type was apparently a great success.”
“…I have mixed feelings about that.”
“And… Thor is requesting permission to create a magic item.”
“Even though Erte is in the Raisenga Territory? Why would he go out of his way to seek permission from Your Majesty and me…?”
“Wait, wait… hmm.”
Demon Lord Rukie slowly read the letter, then looked up.
“I see. Thor recovered a strange object from the fortress where the new species was found. He handed the original to the Imperial commander as evidence, but copied it first. It was… what? A metal plate engraved with a Summoning Magic circle and spell!?”
“Thor-sama obtained information about summoning magic!?”
Chancellor Kelve’s body began to tremble.
“No… even Thor-sama wouldn’t experiment by summoning a magical beast and endangering the Demon Lord’s Domain. Then what could he possibly intend—”
“He apparently wants to adapt summoning magic to create an item for everyday household use.”
“An item for household use?”
“According to Thor’s hypothesis, Summoning Magic has the ability to draw distant things closer. If that principle can be adapted, he may be able to create a convenient household item, so he’s requesting permission.”
“……”
“He must have asked us rather than Erte because Summoning Magic is so significant. It seems he’s being considerate.”
“…I-I see.”
“I think we can permit preliminary work. Kelve, what do you think?”
Demon Lord Rukie handed the letter to Chancellor Kelve.
Kelve gazed at it carefully, then let out a long, long sigh.
Then, scratching at his blue hair roughly, he said,
“…Let’s meet with Thor-sama directly and speak with him.”
After a moment, Chancellor Kelve spoke again.
“First, I need to see the copy of the ‘summoning magic metal plate’ with my own eyes before I can say anything. We should assess its safety and then decide. I doubt Thor-sama will feel at ease if we delay it, so let’s have him prepare a prototype in the meantime.”
“Understood. I’ll inform Thor to return by the festival.”
Rukie took parchment and ink from the writing desk beside the throne.
After jotting down the necessary details, she handed it to Kelve.
“Kelve, use this to compose the letter and send it to Thor.”
“Understood.”
Chancellor Kelve accepted Demon Lord Rukie’s handwritten parchment with both hands.
“Still… what kind of household item could be made by adapting summoning magic?”
“I can’t even guess.”
“Agreed. We’ll have to wait until Thor-sama returns. We should have him attend the party as well and recognize his achievements before everyone.”
“Indeed. By the way, did you read the entire letter?”
“Y-Yes. The parts written by Thor-sama.”
“And the note from the winged pixie in the corner?”
“From the winged pixie? No, I didn’t notice it…”
“She asks whether she may take a fragment of a broken pillar from the castle hall.”
“…What?”
Chancellor Kelve’s eyes widened.
What came to his mind was the time when they were brainstorming the design for the “cleaning robot.”
At that time, in his eagerness to come up with ideas, he had accidentally damaged part of the castle structure—
“Thor apparently told the winged pixies, ‘If anything inspires you, bring it back.’”
“…Wha—wha, wha-wha-wha-wha-wha!?”
“The winged pixie noticed a pillar fragment lying on the hall floor. Its shape is unusual, and she thought it might inspire Thor’s magic-item development, so she asked to take it. Kelve, where are you going in such a panic?”
“Excuse me, Your Majesty!”
Chancellor Kelve bowed to Demon Lord Rukie and dashed from the throne room.
“Th-Thorrrr! Please, I implore you—stop using me as a clue for your magic item development every single time!”
With that desperate cry, the sound of Chancellor Kelve’s footsteps gradually faded into the distance.
“…Kelve really doesn’t handle Thor well, does he?”
Muttering this, Demon Lord Rukie let out a quiet sigh of relief.
She had just remembered what she said to the elven unit commander a few minutes earlier.
(…It seems no one noticed.)
Removing her mask, Demon Lord Rukie touched her cheek.
She could feel the heat rising in it.
Just a while ago, she had said something like this to the elven unit commander:
“It seems I’ll be with him for a long time. I don’t want to do anything shameful before Thor Canaan or anything that would wound his pride.”
—She had said that.
At that moment, she had been imagining a far-off future.
A scene years later, where she was by Thor’s side—spending gentle, peaceful times together.
And whether or not, in that moment, there would be any feelings of guilt or shame toward him in her heart.
(…I ended up blurting it out.)
Rukie silently scolded herself and steeled her resolve.
That wasn’t something she should have said in front of everyone.
If it were just Kelve or the unit commanders, it might still be fine. But if it had been Mabel or Agnis, they might have instantly picked up on the deeper meaning behind her words.
Of course, it wasn’t a lie that they weren’t going to intervene in the Empire’s civil conflict.
That was a fundamental policy of the Demon Lord’s Domain.
If they interfered without understanding the circumstances, the nation could suffer damage so severe it might collapse.
(Still… there was no need to bring up Thor. Yes.)
Lately, even in her formal Demon Lord persona, Rukie’s true feelings had begun slipping out.
She must be careful—thinking that, Rukie’s mind drifted to the upcoming victory party.
The party would likely be a lively, uninhibited affair.
She, Thor, Mabel, and Agnis should all be able to speak freely and without reserve.
At that time, she would talk about many things.
About the magical beast investigation, about Thor’s magic items—about just how deeply she had been worrying over Thor—about everything.
(That ‘magic item utilizing summoning magic’ he spoke of is also something I’m very curious about.)
With those thoughts, Demon Lord Rukie rose from her throne.
Today’s schedule was complete.
Before returning to her chambers, she considered visiting Thor’s room and perhaps practicing brewing tea there while it was empty.
And so, with the magical beast investigation on the borderlands having reached a conclusion—
A festival would soon be held in the Demon Lord’s Domain to celebrate the end of the magical beast threat.