We eventually made our way to the front gate of Kuro’s castle. Since we had come here, there was only one person who could be the next to rise to the Duke-class.
"And so, I hereby certify Funf-san as a Duke-class High-ranking Demon."
"...Um, I have a lot of things I want to say, but first... Shaltier-sama, why are you being given a piggyback ride by Kaito-san?"
"Apparently, his back recharges my dreams and hope."
"...I see. So Kaito-san’s back is filled with dreams and hope."
Funf-san looked more bewildered by Alice making her announcement while being carried than by her own surprise at becoming a Duke-class. Watching her, I couldn't help but let out a wry smile.
I had thought Alice would get off once we arrived, but she just went right ahead and issued the certification exactly as she was. For the time being, she didn't seem to have any intention of getting down.
"...But, Shaltier-sama. Is it really alright for it to be me?"
"Yes. I did consider Fia-sensei, but even though she's technically part of the Kuro-san Faction, she’s currently in a state where she’s almost entirely independent. Since Funf-san is superior to Zex-san in terms of total power, I decided to promote Zwei-san and Funf-san from Kuro-san’s side to Duke-class."
Indeed, Fia-sensei was in a bit of a unique position. While she was a member of Kuro's Family and technically belonged to his faction, she primarily worked as a doctor in the Kingdom of Sinfonia, only occasionally returning to Kuro’s castle—her family home. In that sense, she really did feel independent.
"...What about Roze? Depending on the circumstances, she's much stronger than I am."
"That girl is just too specialized. Her ability is far too inconsistent depending on the situation."
"...Roze?"
The name Funf-san mentioned was one I had never heard before. I had spent a fair amount of time with Kuro's Family and had many opportunities to meet various people, but I didn't know anyone named Roze.
Given that her name had come up in a conversation about the Duke-class, she had to be considerably strong.
"Ah, you haven't met her yet, Kaito-san. Roze is basically in charge of managing the area near the Forbidden Land, so she isn't usually at the castle."
"Remember how I told you before, Kaito-san? About the dungeon we built just for fun? Roze-san is the one who manages that place, along with the Forbidden Land."
"I see... If she's being mentioned alongside the Duke-class, is she someone incredibly powerful?"
The dungeon Alice mentioned was likely the one where the Six Kings' Sword was kept, which I had heard about during the White God Festival. I hadn't heard the exact location, but from her tone, it seemed to be near the Forbidden Land.
And the one managing it was Roze-san... sort of a Dungeon Master, I supposed.
"Roze-san is unique. She possesses the ability to copy the opponent's abilities and magic power. There’s a limit to what she can copy; a perfect copy only goes as far as a Mid-level Count-class level at most. However, once she copies a form, she can record up to three of them. She changes her appearance and fighting style depending on the situation."
"...I see, so that's why her combat power varies. Wait... but based on that explanation, wouldn't her strength be at a Mid-level Count-class level at best?"
I could understand why her combat power would fluctuate if she relied on copying opponents, but from what I was hearing, it didn't sound like she was at a level to be a candidate for the Duke-class.
Of course, being able to fight while switching between three different Mid-level Count-class forms would be quite impressive, but even then, I would think she'd be a High-ranking Count-class at best.
"That’s true, but Roze-san has a trump card. I mentioned earlier that she manages the dungeon, right? By arranging extremely specific and complex conditions, Roze-san can call upon Special Golems. These are Degraded Copies of us Six Kings that were left in the dungeon."
"The golems of the Six Kings-sama are so strong that even Six Kings' Executives can't stand against them. If you include those, Roze might even be called the strongest among the Count-class, but..."
"As I’ve said before, even if they are Degraded Copies, operating golems that reproduce our abilities is impossible unless you bolster them with an absurd number of incredibly complex barriers. Unless the situation is a perfect match, she simply can't use that trump card. Because of that, the fluctuations in her combat power are just too extreme."
In short, while she had a trump card capable of overwhelming even a Six Kings' Executive-class opponent, the conditions to use it were so difficult they were practically unrealistic. In a real fight, it was almost never an option.
"Since it’s basically unusable, her total power is evaluated at a Mid-level Count-class level, so I excluded her this time. Therefore, Funf-san is the one becoming a Duke-class."
"Ahaha, thank you. I wasn't particularly fixated on Peerage-classes, but this is quite an achievement, isn't it? Maybe I'll go brag to Fie about it!"
Laughing cheerfully at Alice's words, Funf-san accepted her certification as a Duke-class High-ranking Demon. The birth of a new Duke-class—in a sense, it was a moment where the history of the Demon Realm had shifted.
Though, granted, neither the newly certified person nor the Alice carrying out the certification seemed to treat it with much solemnity.
Roze (Derived from the number 0, to Zero, rearranged to Roze)
An existence that manages the Six Kings Dungeon and the Forbidden Land. When the Six Kings or others have brawls or training sessions in the Forbidden Land, she is responsible for repairing the damaged earth.
She has the ability to copy an opponent's abilities and magic power, making her appearance truly shapeshifting. Since she stays primarily in the Six Kings Dungeon, she is not well known to the public.
She possesses a trump card that allows her to summon Six Kings Golems, but because they cannot be used unless extremely complex conditions are met, they are practically unusable in actual combat.
She is a Slime that Kuromueina picked up and raised. She underwent a special evolution after her nature was altered by exposure to Kuromueina’s magic power. With a total length of about 20cm in her normal state, she is the smallest member of Kuro's Family.
She is unable to speak and expresses her emotions through facial expressions. She is friendly and likes to hop up and down on the heads of people she takes a liking to.