Ch.163[Episode 163] The Chief of Staff and the Administrator

“Stop right now!”

“That’s an order!”

The Demon Lord and the Hero struck what they thought were their most impressive poses.

The Demon Lord placed both hands on her hips, thrust out her chest, and made the angriest face she could, while the Hero raised his sword-wielding hand high in a ta-da kind of stance.

…In truth, while they thought their poses were cool, to others they just looked adorable.

Like children pretending to be impressive.

“…So cool!”

Well. At least the Demon Lord, the Hero, and Alice thought they looked pretty cool.

The Chief of Staff and the Executive responded to Teu Le Vante and Po Le Jak’s shouts.

The Chief of Staff, who had been trying to break through Sir Dominic’s defense to land a cheap shot, and the Executive, who had been firing so many magic arrows that Dominica’s shield looked like a porcupine, both stopped in their tracks.

“My Demon Lord?”

“Your Highness?”

They both turned their heads in disbelief at the same time.

“My Demon Lord!”

The first to move in this strange silence and standoff was the Chief of Staff.

“Why… why have you become so thin? Have you been eating properly?”

Such… excessive loyalty.

The Chief of Staff and the Demon Lord had been separated for less than an hour, but the Chief of Staff was making a fuss as if they hadn’t seen each other for a week… no, a month.

The Chief of Staff rushed to the Demon Lord in her girl form, grabbed her shoulders, and checked for injuries.

There were cookie crumbs at the corner of the Demon Lord’s mouth, but the Chief of Staff deliberately ignored them and gently brushed her cheek with his hand.

The very picture of an excessively loyal subordinate.

“…Aren’t you overreacting?”

The Demon Lord pouted at the Chief of Staff’s fussing.

And then… the Demon Lord hugged the kneeling, whimpering Chief of Staff tightly.

“I’m sorry.”

“!”

The Chief of Staff was so startled that he began blurting out words without time to organize his thoughts.

“N-no. My Demon Lord has nothing to be sorry… no, that’s not it. Surely you were hiding something… but there’s no guarantee of that. Yes. That’s right.”

Words spilling out in a stream of consciousness.

Finally, as if finding the sentence he wanted among those jumbled words, the Chief of Staff’s agitation subsided.

“…You don’t need to apologize to me. My Demon Lord, you can do things that warrant apology and never say sorry. That’s what makes you the Demon Lord.”

“…Liar.”

“But if you wish, I’ll accept your apology. You’re a free-spirited person, my Demon Lord, so it’s not strange for you to have such diversions.”

A warm atmosphere surrounded the Demon Lord and the Chief of Staff.

The murderous aura they had been directing at Sir Dominic and Sir Dominica just moments ago had completely vanished.

It was truly… a soft situation.

“Um… sorry to interrupt your reunion—”

That’s when it happened.

Sir Dominic, unable to contain his curiosity, cut into their conversation.

“Is this… the Demon Lord?”

Sir Dominic looked at the Demon Lord in her girl form.

“…You fool! Address the Demon Lord with proper respect!”

The Chief of Staff erupted in anger.

The rage that had disappeared returned the moment he saw Sir Dominic.

Of course, Sir Dominic hadn’t done anything wrong, but when you have a bad first impression of someone, they continue to look bad.

Gacharland was no different in this regard.

“If you hadn’t kidnapped the Demon Lord—!”

“Ah, that’s not it. Actually, it was more like I kidnapped him…”

“…Is that so?”

However, the Chief of Staff wasn’t a shameless person.

As soon as the Demon Lord denied it, he immediately corrected his misinformation and acknowledged it.

“…I apologize. It seems I was mistaken.”

The Chief of Staff bowed to Sir Dominic.

The sudden change in attitude was enough to confuse Sir Dominic.

“Y-you don’t need to bow so suddenly—”

“But!”

Sir Dominic’s hands hovered awkwardly in the air, not knowing what to do.

Just then, the Chief of Staff suddenly raised his head while still bowing at the waist.

His eyes were filled with burning determination.

“If something like this happens again, I’ll suspect you. As I always have.”

“Oh. Then I can visit Sir Dominic’s house? You’re giving permission?”

The Chief of Staff’s words were difficult to understand, but in fact, he was showing trust in Sir Dominic.

He was acknowledging Sir Dominic to the extent that he would be the first person to look for if the Demon Lord disappeared.

The Demon Lord, familiar with the Chief of Staff’s way of speaking, immediately recognized that his words were an expression of trust in Sir Dominic, but…

“…What does that mean?”

Sir Dominic, not knowing the Chief of Staff’s personality or manner of speaking, couldn’t understand what he meant at all.

“…Anyway. Next time we meet, let’s have a meal together. I want to properly apologize for this misunderstanding.”

The Chief of Staff awkwardly changed the subject.

Well… explaining one’s own words would be somewhat embarrassing.

“…Shall we return, my Demon Lord?”

“Huh?”

“Didn’t you come to the Market Area today because there was a delicious children’s hamburger set? The lunch time will end soon. We should hurry if we don’t want to be late.”

“…Ah!”

The Demon Lord finally remembered why she had come to the Market Area.

And she excitedly stamped her feet, unable to wait.

“Hamburger set!”

“Yes. I made a reservation, so we can go right in as soon as we arrive.”

The Demon Lord and the Chief of Staff were talking to each other like this in front of Sir Dominic.

Sir Dominic watched their warm interaction and said:

“Well… I’m glad everything worked out. But there’s one thing I’d like to ask.”

Sir Dominic truly thought so.

He had a mountain of questions about why the Demon Lord appeared as a girl rather than in her two-headed form, and why the Chief of Staff acted like he had a dual personality, but Sir Dominic decided to ask a deeper, more fundamental question.

“They say this is Channel 2, but how do I get to Channel 1?”

Sir Dominic held up his phone and showed the screen.

A map app was open on it.

[Move from Channel 2 to Channel 1]

[After moving to Channel 1, go straight 50 meters toward the central plaza of the Market Area]

[After going straight, turn right at the first alley]

Sir Dominic pointed to the first line and said:

“It says here to move to Channel 1, but I don’t know how to do that.”

Sir Dominic asked with a serious expression.

Incidentally, Sir Dominica was not much different from Sir Dominic.

“Um, where’s the way to Channel 1?”

Sir Dominica was also asking, squeezing between the emotional Hero and Executive.

…

“Thank you.”

“Thank you so much.”

Sir Dominic and Sir Dominica expressed their gratitude to the Demon Lord, the Hero, and the Chief of Staff and Executive.

Sir Dominic, Sir Dominica, and Alice had returned to Channel 1 with their help.

Opposite them were the Demon Lord and Hero, who had somehow returned to their two-headed forms.

“!”

“?”

“The Demon Lord says she’s sorry for getting you involved in unnecessary trouble.”

“He asks if he can visit next time, lowly one.”

Teu Le Vante and Po Le Jak waved their soft arms and hopped up and down.

Sir Dominic and Sir Dominica couldn’t understand this higher-dimensional language, but they could grasp the meaning through the Chief of Staff and Executive’s interpretations.

“…They want you to secretly prepare some snacks. Keep it a secret.”

Alice whispered to Sir Dominic and Sir Dominica the message she had secretly received.

“Anyway—”

“I apologize once more for this incident.”

“Living for so long has only made me more foolish.”

The Chief of Staff and Executive bowed again.

The very model of a sincere apology.

“It’s… all right.”

“We would have made the same misunderstanding.”

Sir Dominic and Sir Dominica nodded.

As Sir Dominic and Sir Dominica accepted the apology, the two straightened up.

“Now it’s time for the Demon Lord’s lunch, so we’ll be going.”

“The Hero is hungry, you see. …We’ll discuss compensation for this matter by letter later.”

The Chief of Staff and Executive disappeared down the main road with the Demon Lord and Hero.

Sir Dominic, Sir Dominica, and Alice, who had been quietly watching, saw the Demon Lord and Hero turn around shortly after and wave their short arms.

“They say they’ll see us again next time.”

Alice interpreted their gesture.

Sir Dominic and Sir Dominica looked at each other.

“Well, shall we go buy a bed now?”

“A bed?”

Alice asked Sir Dominica.

“Is it one with frills fluttering all over it?”

“Um… I don’t think so.”

“Aww.”

Alice had arbitrarily gotten her hopes up and was arbitrarily disappointed.

In truth, Alice wouldn’t need to use a bed at Sir Dominic’s house, but she thought it wouldn’t hurt to share tastes with her master.

That’s when it happened.

“Ah.”

Sir Dominic let out a foolish sigh.

“What’s wrong…?”

Sir Dominica asked Sir Dominic.

She was another version of him, so she could understand what that sigh meant.

“It’s nothing.”

Sir Dominic shook his head and said.

“I just didn’t get to ask why the Demon Lord and Hero change their appearance.”

“Ah.”

Sir Dominica let out a foolish sigh.

The Demon Lord and Hero.

They had returned to their two-headed short forms now, but until just a moment ago, Teu Le Vante and Po Le Jak had appeared as a boy and girl.

Realizing this fact, Sir Dominica exhaled a long sigh.

“…Now that I’ve realized it, I think I’ll keep wondering about it.”

“Exactly.”

Sir Dominic and Sir Dominica looked with unsettled expressions at where the Demon Lord and Hero had disappeared.

Watching them, Alice thought:

I should ask about it when I go to school tomorrow.