NOVEL NEXT WORLD Chapter 13
Chapter 13
‘What is this?’
There definitely wasn’t any red hair before. If there had been, Nahun, who always patted Seere’s head, wouldn’t have missed it. As Nahun stood there perplexed, Cain explained.
“That’s a characteristic of the Debata clan.”
“Uh?”
A characteristic of the Debata clan?
It was something Nahun had never heard of while playing the game. Thinking it might be another hidden setting, Nahun wanted to hear Cain’s story.
“You taught Seere how to use external magic power previously, didn’t you? You even tried it out.”
“Right. Does that have something to do with it?”
“Yes. The reason Seere’s hair turned red is that the external magic power she absorbed is being stored in her hair.”
“……What?”
“That’s why the Debata clan shows exceptional strengths in utilizing magic.”
Unlike other demon races that can only temporarily draw on external magic, the Debata clan could store external magic power in advance and use it later.
Upon hearing this, Nahun was astonished. If that were possible, Seere could use magic that required much higher magic power than she currently possessed right away.
“Does using magic mean it goes back to normal?”
“That’s about it. The late King Seir stored a lot of external magic power, so more than half of his hair was red.”
As far as Nahun remembered, there had never been such a depiction in the game’s CG. It was likely just a background setting introduced as a basis for Seere’s explosive growth in the game.
In any case, this was excellent news for Nahun, who aimed to elevate Seere. It meant her growth would be much easier. Unconsciously smiling, Nahun spoke to Seere.
“It seems we’ll need to practice gathering external magic power frequently.”
“Yes!”
Her response was good. Nahun smiled contentedly and gently patted Seere’s head. Seere closed her eyes, seemingly enjoying his touch.
“Cain, let me know immediately if there’s any contact from Lin.”
“Understood.”
“I’ll be checking the finances for a while.”
“Can I watch from the side?”
At Seere’s question, Nahun nodded willingly. In fact, it was even better. As these were tasks that Seere would need to do later, observing them in advance was a good experience.
Once inside the office, Nahun sat down and positioned Seere on his lap. Sitting on his knees, Seere looked curiously at the documents Nahun was examining.
Nahun intentionally read the documents aloud for Seere.
“Due to recent incursions by adventurers, crops have suffered damage, and this quarter’s farming has ended in failure.”
“Yes.”
“So, there’s a plea for support due to a shortage of food. What do you think we should do?”
Nahun was naturally seeking Seere’s opinion. Since she had come along, he thought it would be good to give her some economic lessons.
However, instead of saying she didn’t know, Seere provided a clear opinion.
“We just need to give food. We have grains and meat stored in the warehouse from last year.”
“Can we just give it away?”
“We can’t just give it away! We should provide some as support and sell the rest at a very low price.”
The answer was so solid that it was hard to believe it came from a seven-year-old child. Nahun felt that the late king had imparted quite a lot to Seere.
“But don’t the farmers not have money to buy food right now? Even if we sell it cheaply, they probably can’t afford to buy it… Then will they have to borrow money from somewhere to buy food?”
“Hmm…”
“I’ll tell you a way.”
Nahun took out a blank sheet of paper and started to jot something down. After a while, he showed Seere what he had written.
“Are we lending it?”
“Yes, it’s a kind of loan. We lend the food and only take a very small interest so that the farmers can repay it in the next harvest season.”
The method Nahun proposed was known as the refunding system. It was a social security system already validated historically several times. Various countries had implemented relief measures of this kind.
Though there was a clear disadvantage that it was hard to implement without centralization, the demon world was a perfectly centralized nation. This meant it was a very suitable environment for implementing the refunding system.
“Then the food problem will be solved, and it won’t just be one-sided support, so the Demon King Castle won’t suffer a loss?”
“Yes!”
After that, Nahun continued to show Seere the financial documents, explaining them one by one. How much time had passed like that when someone gently knocked on the office door?
“Come in.”
“Excuse me, Nahun.”
The person who entered the office was Rea, the head maid of the Demon King Castle. Hailing from the Lamb tribe, as her name suggested, she belonged to a race that showed some characteristics of sheep. This included sheep horns and ears on her head and a sheep’s tail around her waist.
Known for their generally gentle disposition, Rea had been overseeing the internal affairs of the Demon King Castle in place of the late queen and had also served as a nurse for young Seere.
So, no one in the Demon King Castle dared to disregard her. She had been responsible for managing the household since the reign of the previous king.
Nahun asked with a smile despite her sudden visit.
“Rea, what’s going on?”
“I apologize for interrupting your work, but a lot of time has passed.”
“Uh?”
“It’s snack time.”
Nahun looked at the clock and exclaimed, realizing that the deep blue glow of dusk from the demon world was already filtering through the window.
Only then did he realize that they had been so engrossed in work that they hadn’t noticed the passage of time. Guiding Seere and progressing through tasks made time seem to flow even faster.
“Seere, let’s have a snack. Go with Rea.”
“Pudding!”
“Today it’s strawberry cake, Your Majesty.”
“Cake!!”
Seere, who had been brightening up at the mention of cake, jumped off his lap and looked back at Nahun.
“Teacher, you should eat too.”
“Huh?”
“Let’s eat together!”
“What?”
Nahun was so surprised that he blinked and couldn’t respond. It was no wonder because he had heard that Seere would ‘never’ share her pudding or cake with others. This was also explicitly stated in the game.
Just by looking at Rea’s astonished expression, one could tell how impossible Seere’s behavior was.
“Your Majesty, are you saying you want to share your snacks?”
“Yes… uh!”
Seere, who almost reflexively switched from formal speech to casual, held her mouth with her hand and looked at Nahun.
“I didn’t use formal speech.”
“Uh… yeah, that’s right.”
Nahun got himself together and patted Seere on the head.
“Then shall we take a taste of the cake you love so much?”
“It’s super delicious! Hurry up!”
Seere waved her hand, beckoning Nahun to come quickly, and exited the office. Rea followed her closely. Nahun felt relieved as he followed them to the dining hall.
‘Seems like she’s adapting fairly well.’
This was a world that had become reality, no longer a game. No matter how much game knowledge and memories from being possessed popped up, he couldn’t help but worry about whether he could adapt well here.
However, seeing Seere’s reaction now brought him clarity. She was showing a level of behavior she definitely wouldn’t exhibit if she hadn’t grown to trust him. Nahun smiled comfortably, feeling he had adapted fairly successfully.
#
“…Daejeong.”
“Shh.”
This was the 70th floor of the demon world, known as the “Floor of Justice.” This name was derived from Andromalius calling himself the “Demon King of Justice.”
“From here on, don’t call me Daejeong. Call me by my name instead.”
“…Understood.”
A few, including Lin El Lazine, were infiltrating this area. Among the fewer than five infiltrators, one of them asked Lin.
“Who are we meeting?”
It was Epsilon, who had followed Lin. Lin had decided to include Epsilon in the infiltration group after taking Nahun’s advice. In reality, Epsilon, contrary to concerns, hadn’t caused any trouble with the other infiltrators and was competent.
‘Has she figured out the overall strength already?’
Lin internally praised Nahun’s foresight and informed the infiltrating members of their meeting target.
“Aaron Raiders.”
“Aaron Raiders? Why that person…?”
“I’ll now inform you of the purpose of this infiltration, so pay close attention.”
Until now, Lin had purposely concealed the mission’s purpose from the infiltrators. This was based not on Lin’s judgment but Nahun’s, to prevent any leaks of information in advance.
Lin quietly continued.
“We will meet Aaron Raiders and persuade him to join us.”
“Are you trying to bring Aaron Raiders to our side? Is that even possible?”
“It has to be made possible. Not only that, but we’ll also seek to recruit the forces that follow him.”
Hearing this, Epsilon asked Lin a question.
“What do you intend to gain from him?”
“The goal is to take over the 70th floor.”
“…Is that possible?”
“If it is said to be possible, we soldiers will simply follow.”
Lin raised her mask to cover her face again and spoke.
“Let’s move to the meeting place.”
The infiltrating group led by Lin passed through the slums of the 70th floor and entered a secluded hut. Inside the hut were a robust-looking man and a slender woman.
As the woman became wary of the suddenly appearing infiltrators, the man held her back and spoke.
“You are here as emissaries of Seere von Debata.”
“Are you Count Aaron Raiders?”
“That is correct. Who among you is the representative?”
Lin surveyed the surroundings for a moment, then, as if to show off, took off her hood and revealed herself. Aaron’s eyes widened at the sight of her cat ears and wavy hair.
“The Sword of the Four from Seir?”
“I have long discarded that title. Now I am…”
Lin lowered her mask and said.
“The sword of Her Majesty Seere.”