My name was Eric.
Eric Autre Segelia.
I was the third son of the House of Baron Segelia, a demon man studying at the Galgard Noble Academy. I belonged to the largest faction in the school, led by Alfred-sama, where I served as an assistant to both him and Urza-sama. If I do say so myself, I believed my work performance was decent—not necessarily exceptional, but reliable.
And yet, Alfred-sama asked me to assist Tiselle-sama with her Nation Building project.
I couldn't help but wonder why it had to be me.
"You were the only one who ever scolded Urza and Tiselle for their lack of common sense," Alfred-sama explained.
"Were there really no other people to reprimand them?" I asked.
"Everyone else either pretended they didn't see what was happening or just joined in on the fun."
That certainly sounded like our school environment. Even so, I couldn't exactly say I was thrilled about the appointment.
"Are you dissatisfied?" he asked.
"To be honest, yes," I admitted.
"Then I shall provide a reward to resolve that discontent. This is separate from your compensation for the Nation Building project. Think of it as a sort of caregiver fee for handling Tiselle."
I didn't want him to think I was the kind of man who was only moved by money, but then he continued.
"Specifically, I was thinking of providing this much per year."
The number he showed me was staggering.
"A thousand? You mean a thousand medium copper coins?"
"No, not medium copper coins," Alfred-sama said.
"Surely you don't mean a thousand large copper coins?"
"Silver coins. Each worth a hundred times that."
I stood straight and bowed deeply. "I will do my absolute best to live up to your expectations, sir."
And that was how I ended up assisting Tiselle-sama with her project. I suppose it was my own fault for being blinded by wealth, but I had never even seen a thousand silver coins in my family’s ledger before.
Tiselle-sama’s Nation Building project aimed to create a buffer nation between the Demon Kingdom and the human kingdoms. This state would act as a proxy, handling all diplomatic negotiations with the humans on the Demon Kingdom's behalf. Since human nations couldn't openly negotiate with the Demon Kingdom, she was providing them with a convenient intermediary.
By the way, Tiselle-sama didn't intend to stand at the top as the Queen, so she wasn't "founding" a country in the traditional sense. That was why we called it "Nation Building." The main focus was establishing the national framework and the construction of the town that would serve as the Royal Capital.
Currently, the project was in the staff recruitment and preliminary research phase. Negotiations were underway to have talented personnel dispatched from all over the Demon Kingdom. The Four Heavenly Kings had already sent ten exceptional individuals as executive candidates, and the plan was for them to be the core of the project.
However, for some reason, all ten of those executive candidates became my subordinates. They were higher-ranking than me and older than me, but resisting the arrangement was futile. Some of them even held noble titles. I couldn't defy them, so I ended up in the role of relaying Tiselle-sama’s instructions to the group.
To their credit, they handled every task flawlessly once instructed. They were undoubtedly talented, but I couldn't fathom why they insisted on being my subordinates. I began to suspect that perhaps they simply didn't want to receive orders directly from Tiselle-sama, but I quickly dismissed the thought. That seemed impossible.
I planned to have a proper discussion with them about it eventually. I hadn't done so yet because they were currently absent. They were out trying to recruit a group called the Parade Executive Committee.
This committee was comprised of the brilliant civil officials who had organized and executed the recent large-scale Demon Kingdom's Parade in such a short amount of time. From what I had heard of their work, they seemed like a group capable of turning the impossible into reality. As an elite unit of internal affairs experts, they would be an incredible asset to our project.
Unfortunately, the committee had disbanded once the parade ended, and its members had returned to their original departments. My subordinates were currently negotiating with them, insisting that their skills were absolutely necessary for our success. They had been out for days, not even returning at night.
To be perfectly honest, the negotiations hadn't even truly begun. The moment the former committee members realized we were looking for them, they had gone into hiding with everything they had. My subordinates were now in the middle of a high-stakes game of hide-and-seek. Several of them had even spent a considerable amount of their own personal funds to form pursuit units, so I assumed it was only a matter of time before they were caught.
However, recruitment wasn't being left entirely to the ten executives. I had also requested cooperation from the students at the Galgard Noble Academy. About thirty people, mostly from Alfred-sama’s faction, had volunteered to help.
Tiselle-sama had been busy as well. She brought in two very different groups. One was a collection of former human noblewomen, daughters of dukes. Given our objective of dealing with human kingdoms, their cooperation was bound to be useful. The other group was a faction of former anti-Demon King rebels.
I had my doubts about the latter. Was it really safe to involve them? Tiselle-sama assured me they no longer harbored any ill will toward the Demon Kingdom and had accepted her invitation as a form of re-employment. They had bowed their heads politely and greeted me, but for some reason, they were also placed under my command. I had been asked to assist Tiselle-sama, yet I felt more like a field commander than an assistant. I was still a student, after all.
While recruitment continued, we were also conducting surveys of the territory we intended to claim. We needed to know the geography of the land before we could decide where to build the capital. We were using the wyverns that followed Tiselle-sama to gather this data. Technically, they served her father, but since they moved at her request, the distinction hardly mattered.
I was the one tasked with summarizing the information the wyverns brought back. To be honest, giant wyverns were terrifying. In the Demon Kingdom, the violent reputation of the Wyverns of the Iron Forest preceded them. But this was my job, and I couldn't let fear stop me.
Fortunately, the wyverns conducting the survey were quite gentlemanly. They even apologized to me for the behavior of the Iron Forest kin, explaining that those particular wyverns were considered problem children even among their own kind. It seemed every group had its troublemakers.
Amidst all this, Tiselle-sama introduced me to a new staff candidate: an elderly man named Belbark.
I was stunned. Belbark-sama? The man known as "more of a Demon King than the Demon King"? He had been a legendary figure who commanded the front lines for years and was said to possess the most extensive network of connections in the entire kingdom. He was the real deal; his magic power was unmistakable.
"First of all, let’s untie those ropes," I said. Keeping a man of his stature bound was dangerous in more ways than one.
"We can't," Tiselle-sama replied. "He'll run away."
"Isn't he supposed to be part of the staff?"
"I haven't finished persuading him yet."
If that was the case, I couldn't argue, but if Alfred-sama or Urza-sama saw him like this, there would be hell to pay. I suggested she take him to Torain-sama’s house instead. She told me that had been her plan all along.
"Tiselle-sama," I added as she prepared to leave. "Please make sure he doesn't escape."
"Of course," she said with a smile.
In any project, the more allies you have, the better—especially if they are as influential as him. However, I soon heard that as a condition for recruiting Belbark-sama, Tiselle-sama was planning to gather rare delicacies from across the land.
This realization filled me with dread. While our staff was well-compensated, there had been no precedent for sign-on bonuses or special treatment just for joining. If the others found out, it would cause an uproar. Such information was impossible to suppress; it would spread eventually.
Sure enough, a mountain of petitions soon arrived at my desk.
"We want to eat delicious things too!" they cried.
This was a problem I couldn't ignore if the project was to succeed. If I'm being honest, I wanted to eat delicious things too. I conveyed the unrest to Tiselle-sama, and shortly after, Torain-sama arrived.
He informed me that they were going to hold a festival.
It was a brilliant solution. If only Belbark-sama received special treatment, it would breed resentment, but if everyone was entertained and fed, the issue would vanish. Apparently, it had been Urza-sama's suggestion.
Once the decision was made, it was time for action. Torain-sama showed me his draft for the festival plan. It was remarkably well-made for someone his age, though his time estimations were a bit optimistic. We didn't have much time for a post-mortem on the draft, so I set about correcting it immediately.
Some parts would take time no matter what we did, but with Tiselle-sama's influence, we could move both the Dalfon and Goroun Companies. If any merchants or officials remained stubborn, we would simply have to beat them over the head with silver coins. Elegantly, of course, as befits a noble.
"Beating them gracefully with silver coins..." Torain-sama mused, looking thoughtful. "So, you mean like putting silver coins into a sock and going 'thwack' like this?"
"It was a metaphor, Torain-sama," I sighed. "We aren't literally going to hit anyone."