Chapter 197

< Evade the Hero and Flee! 197 #23. Policy Meant for My Dream! (4) >

Bombardments.

What a wonderful way to attack one-sidedly in a war that was. Especially when my side holds the absolute advantage in the firing range; I could one-sidedly annihilate the enemy without hurting my allies once.

The best example of this would be Koreas Chungmugong Yi Sun-s.h.i.+n. Admiral Yis only crime in life was serving under an idiot king. During his battles against the invading j.a.ps, he fully exploited the difference in the level of s.h.i.+ps and firepower to never lose a single encounter.

And the most important aspect regarding bombardments was Its safe.

While fighting in close quarters, there was a good chance of getting hit by a stray arrow and dying! When almost all kingdoms in the continent join the war, youd inevitably encounter all sorts of unexpected variables.

Among those variables was the death of the famed undefeated general during his one and only defeat. Just how hard did I have to work to deal with the aftermath!

The valuable lesson I learned back then was: If I ever become a commander, I shall immediately slink off to the rear of the battlefield.

However, that lesson had a fatal flaw None other than the morale of my fellow soldiers! Which soldier in their right mind would be happy to see their commander hiding in a far-off safe place to hurl orders at them?

Since ancient times, soldiers trusted and followed a commander that stayed by their side and took the lead in the battles. Thats why I took everyone else and stayed in the rear. Our role would be to diligently fire the bombardments from there.

Fire, then fire some more, then fire even more!

Just like how a SiXtanX in SiXmode was firing mercilessly at the X army charging in to attack! [1]

Thanks to all the practice, my ability to calculate the distance with my naked eyes has become a bit No, it has become one of the best in the entire world.

I rekindled that memory and resorted to long-distance bombardments against Aggreahrt. The result? Overwhelming success.

There was not a single casualty on my side while we slaughtered countless many enemies. Even Aggreahrt was successfully killed in the end.

But now, Ive realised the truth. That wasnt the overwhelming success, but an overwhelming failure. I shouldve been a bit more cautious back then.

However, that s.h.i.+p had set sail already.

What a chaotic mess.

I stopped by at the demon kings castle to get a better understanding of the situation, only to be greeted by scenes of utter pandemonium.

Doc.u.ments! Hurry up!

Dammit! Where did the manager for this matter run off to?!

He died!

Dammit?! Then whos the next in line?

Also dead!

Daaaaaaaammmit!!!

P-please, save me

Dont die! If you die, youll only increase our workload!

Which b.a.s.t.a.r.d is trying to die without permission?! Are you dying after finis.h.i.+ng your work first?!

This was h.e.l.l.

Not a single demon walking around with doc.u.ments clutched to their bosoms were free from dark circles below their eyes. I even witnessed a fair few demons crawling on the floor, too.

Some crawled, some walked, some ran, some even flew.

I watched these folks hurriedly moving around while utilising every inch of the corridor, then quickly left them alone. Theres no need to disturb hard-working people, now is there?

When I reached my destination and opened the office door

Are you busy?

I was greeted by the sight of a corpse.

Cant you tell by looking?

The corpses lips barely managed to squeeze out some intermittent words. That voice shouldve been quite pleasing to listen to, but right now, it reminded me of withered, cracking farmland after a lengthy drought.

Youre dying, then.

Indeed, its deadly.

What a one-sided bombardment this was.

Never mind casualties, not a single person on my side was wounded during the battle. On the other hand, the enemy camps leader, Aggreahrt, was killed, while the enemy suffered hundreds of casualties and even more injured overall.

But, during the commencement of the bombardment, a sh.e.l.l landed on a not-so-nice area, and

To think that all the office workers doing the government work got ma.s.sacred like this

And their demise is pus.h.i.+ng the rest of us to the brink of death as well, sir! Belegrea raised her gaunt face and shoved the pile of doc.u.ments aside.

Unfortunately for her, though, a worker abruptly rushed inside the office as soon as she did that and dropped a new pile of doc.u.ments on the cleared s.p.a.ce.

Lets just die.

Oii?

The situation was so severe that Belegrea, resolved to sacrifice her everything for the peace of the demon continent once upon a time, had to give up!

Sirrrr! Please help us with the work!

She stared at me with such desperation in her eyes that I was forced to reply to her right away.

Dont want to.

Euh-euk

Of course I didnt want to. I didnt want to work, and thats why I dumped the position of the demon king on her, so why should I roll my sleeves up again?

Dont you have any new spare recruits lying around?

No, there is no one

The story Belegrea told me earlier heavily implied that the demon race prioritised their combat strength, and their perception of a desk job was that it only belonged to losers and trash who got left behind in the fierce compet.i.tion.

Thats why those born with defects or those who lost parts of their bodies during battles usually ended up with desk jobs.

But, going by that logic, dont you have plenty of new recruits this time?

When I tried to employ them, sir, they only caused more headaches.

Hmm. Makes sense

Pus.h.i.+ng doc.u.ments outwardly seems like a simple enough job, but in reality, each letter and each number on a doc.u.ment meant a world of difference. As such, itd be too much of an ask to bring fresh-faced recruits here just because they are patients of some kind and put them to work immediately.

Especially more so when those patients lost their arms and legs from our bombardment in the first place!

I could lend you my hero punk, but well

Ive already requested his a.s.sistance, but he keeps running away.

Mm

As expected of my disciple. He certainly has a good nose for things like this, doesnt he!

And our plans progress?

Its still lacking in so many areas. Belegrea sighed at length with her head faltered. She glared at the doc.u.ments resting on her desk for a little while, then looked up at me with a pair of pleading eyes.

Im not doing it.

But sir, just a little bit Belegrea made a dumbfounded expression when I expressed my stance even before she could ask. Isnt it fine to help me just a little?! Im only talking about this tiny little work, sir!

Still dont wanna.

S-such a firm answer?!

What was the old saying about continued kindness eventually becoming ent.i.tlement? If I dip my toes while saying its only temporary, then before long, Id be in charge of that particular problem for good.

Even though my initial thought would be Just a little By the time I regain my wits, all the work would be dumped on my lap! And before long, such a thing wouldve become so natural that everyone starts asking me for the works progress or just dumping more work on my desk.

Once that situation happens, itd be too late to back out.

Ive already experienced that situation many times during my past life and this one! You think Ill go through that again at this age?!

Give up, Belegrea. Training the new recruits will yield faster results.

Hah-ah Devoting myself to work will get the job done faster than that, sir. Belegrea dropped her forehead on the desk with a thud.

I decided to cheer her up. Since you know, hurry up.

You Really?!

While staring at Belegrea gritting her teeth, I began explaining the purpose of my visit today. The chieftains education is coming along quite nicely. I estimate that their education will end in about a month.

A, a month, you say Belegrea squeezed her eyes shut since she intimately knew the contents of my so-called education. She silently prayed for the chieftains good luck. Oh, you poor demons

Their sacrifices will ensure the peace and prosperity of the demon race. You are not suspecting the Demon G.o.ds will, now are you?

T-thats not true, sir!

I smiled in satisfaction when Belegrea urgently shook her head. It seemed that the cure-all remedy called dropping the Demon G.o.ds name when appropriate was still working just fine!

Well, then. This is my new plan.

I handed over a list that I worked on diligently for a while. I meant to give this list to her the last time we were together, but my distrust in the demon races intelligence level had postponed it.

New Tribe Movement? [2]

Thats right. The goal of this plan is to boost the demon races hard-working nature, self-reliance, and ability to cooperate. Then, evenly develop the entire demon race, not just the weak and small tribes. One of the most important aspects of that is, without a doubt, the reformation of the national consciousness!

Ive heard that a certain Socialist country up north started this policy called Chollima Movement, but I didnt know what it was all about. The only Chollima I know is an online store, after all! [3]

Thats why I decided to copy a movement that I was a bit more familiar with.

T-there is even a song to go with it, sir?

Of course. Singing while working will enhance productivity, you see.

The name of the song was New Tribe Song!

Its first verse even started with, The new dawns bells are ringing! and ended with, Let us build a new tribe!. There were four verses in total, and I made sure to jot them down in detail. [4]

There is also a flag?

Well, having a symbol is important, after all.

The design I personally came up with had the emblem of the Demon G.o.d in yellow and green, while the words [New Tribe] were written right below it in Gungseochae font. [5]

Sir, the contents in this list seem like they will require a lot of funding Am I mistaken?

Development of this scale naturally requires a lot of capital. But do not worry. The funds will be provided by the Demon G.o.ds temple.

We will be transforming the residential s.p.a.ces and building new roads, then proceed with various types of education for the young demon race kids.

The funds would be provided by the Demon G.o.ds temple with its still-humongous wealth. If that proves to be still insufficient, we could always collect from other temples affiliated with us.

Is that so Belegrea nodded, then continued to read my plan while flipping through the pages. She quickly went through the list and sometimes asked me about certain aspects that puzzled her.

Sir, about this part

Sir, it says here that its meant to teach the n.o.ble Demon G.o.ds will to the young ones, but the loyalty of the demon race to our G.o.d is already

Sir, wouldnt this be a little too challenging?

Once she got going, Belegrea didnt hold back on her questions right up until the last page. And once she heard all of my answers, a truly bright grin lit up on her face. Sir, this is a really wonderful plan!

You think so, too?

As far as I know, the original Korean movement was evaluated as a success overall. I heard that the whole world had evaluated it favourably, and some aspects of the movement were being spread overseas, too!

The most crucial part is with the leaders.h.i.+p understanding the policy and setting an example by taking the initiative. And when you said the chieftains were receiving education, did you mean this?

Of course.

I christened it as Bat-style Cram Education. My many disciples were good examples of how effective this education regime was.

Sir, it seems everything is going according to plan.

Indeed, everything is proceeding smoothly.

As long as things stay this way, of course.

Indeed. As long as they stay that way.

If things continued to progress in this fas.h.i.+on, then the demon race would eventually get to enjoy a more prosperous future.

The problem with that was

I guess its time to die, sir.

Oiii?!

Belegrea, seemingly understanding everything, opened the window and got ready to jump outside.

Im supposed to oversee all these things, arent I, sir?!

Obviously! Youre the demon king, after all!

But sir! Lord Marx, arent you also the demon king? Not just any, but one chosen by the Demon G.o.d herself?!

And Im planning to hand that t.i.tle over to you, too!

I refuse! I will refuse, so please, please! Lend me your a.s.sistance!

She cried out and threatened to jump out of the window, but uh Its too bad for her, but we were on the first floor.

Besides all that, someone on the level of a swordmaster wouldnt die after jumping off from the top of a castle wall as long as they didnt want to. And there were soldiers on the ground outside, so they should easily catch her even if she did jump.

Worse still

Lady Belegrea?! Are you taking a break?!

Were wasting away with work like this, yet youre actually taking a break, maam?!

Get back to work, maam!

If Belegrea dies today, the amount of work the bureaucrats have to deal with would go up accordingly. Thats why they would never allow her to kill herself.

Belegrea was also aware of that, of course. She wordlessly closed the window to block out the loud jeers and boos coming from outside, then settled down demurely on her chair.

If I do this, Ill really die, sir. She pressed her face on the desks surface then began talking to me with a sobbing voice. After I became the demon king, the amount of work I deal with has grown, sir. I still had enough time to sleep before all this, but now? I cant even do that!

Sniffle

She continued to sniffle while leaning her face against the desk.

Watching her made me groan deeply. This New Tribe Movement also includes the education of the demon race. While spreading the will of the Demon G.o.d, we shall change the peoples perception of desk jobs. And once more people have learned basic knowledge, we should see the appearance of useful workers.

How long do you think itll take us to change the perception, sir! 100 years? No, maybe ten? How about we a.s.sume a minimum of five years? Will that be fine?!

I will die of overwork well before that happens, sir!

Belegrea didnt directly say that out loud, but the way she glared at me told me that loudly enough.

She was too powerless. With her current state, exploiting her might not be feasible. There were three ways to resolve this. However, the first method was the metal bat, and she was currently being used in the education of the chieftains so shes out.

The second method was for me to help her out. But I didnt want to work, so thats also out. Which meant I had no choice but to go with the third option.

And that was the so-called shock therapy!

Im not sure, but, uh Shouldnt it be better for you to work instead of wasting your time burying your face on the desk?

She was exercising her right to silence.

Very well. Lets see if you can keep that up after I drop this bombsh.e.l.l.

The thing is, Ria will soon stop working here, you know?

Say what?!

Bang!

Belegrea powerfully jumped up, her eyes trembling urgently. W-w-what are you t-talking about, sir?!

Ria will be retiring soon.

H-hold on?! I turned around and was about to leave her office, but Belegrea physically threw herself forward and tried to block my path. What are you even talking about, sir?!

Ria says shes going home.

B-but, what about her work?

Belegrea was now on the floor, crawling, her hands clinging onto me.

However, I easily shook off her desperate hands and grinned insidiously at her. Of course, youll have to do her share.

No! Noooooooo!!!

The legend of the nightless castle recorded in the annals of the demon continents history all began with Belegreas tragic scream.

[1]: I have no idea what the author is referring to here. Tried to google, but didnt get any concrete results.

[2]: This is a riff on the New Community Movement of South Korea kicked off by President Park Chung-hee in 1970.

[3]: Chollima Movement was North Koreas state-sponsored Stakhanovite movement launched in 1956. As for the online Chollima store, its actually 1000lima dot kr, an online phone store. 1000 is p.r.o.nounced, cheon/, which is the same as Chollima in Korean .

[4]: There really is a song (more like a jingle) for the New Community Movement, apparently written by President Park himself. And yes, it starts off with the line, The new dawns bells are ringing.

[5]: Gungseochae is an old-school Korean (or Hangul) font invented in the middle of the Joseon dynasty for the ease of learning the language for the palaces maids-in-waiting.