The Demon King's Perspective Hmm.
There's nothing to do.
What should I do?
I mean, I came to the Demon King's castle and started acting as the Demon King, but I was more active when I was just traveling. How does that even work?
What a mystery.
My typical day at the Demon King's castle goes like this: wake up in the morning, eat breakfast, wander around aimlessly, eat lunch, lounge about, eat dinner, laze around some more, then sleep.
Wait a minute.
Who does that sound like?
Some NEET out there, doesn't it?
That's weird.
I'm the Demon King, you know?
But what I'm doing is no different from being a NEET.
Well, half of that can't be helped.
There's Balt, who's been managing the Demon race ever since the previous Demon King vanished.
There's no need for me to suddenly barge in and start barking orders like "do this" and "do that."
Actually, if I did that, it'd just cause confusion and backfire.
So all I need to do is convey the general direction. Right now, I'm just having them focus on military expansion.
Even though I'm supposedly the most ancient divine beast, there's not much I can do when it comes to politics.
After all, it's been way too long since I was involved in any of that.
I have the knowledge, sure, but actually putting it into practice? I doubt I could pull it off.
Even if I tried, it'd take years of grunt work before I could do anything other than get in the way.
So right now, there was nothing for me to do.
I reign but do not govern.
Yeah, that about sums me up.
People's eyes toward me seem to be growing colder by the day, but I'm sure that's just my imagination.
Hmm.
Still, I'm bored.
If I'd known it was going to be this boring, I should've brought Shiro along.
That girl's probably just lounging around the manor doing nothing anyway.
Oh wait, no.
That'd just add one more NEET to the mix.
Nope. Can't do that.
The looks from everyone around me would turn into a blizzard.
For real, the stares from Balt's little bro, Blow, are getting scary sharp.
Blow serves as deputy commander of the Fourth Army.
Since Balt is tied up with politics, the one actually running the Fourth Army in practice is Blow.
Appearance-wise, he's like Balt with some punk flavor added.
But despite that look, he's got the chops to handle administrative work with precision too.
Having watched his older brother's back as he managed the Demon race all this time, he's shown himself to be every bit as capable—if not more so.
He does tend to worship his brother a bit too much, but hey, that's its own thing, right? Nothing wrong with that!
The forbidden love between brothers...
So anyway, Blow clearly isn't happy about the current situation where the brother he respects is bowing to some unsavory NEET.
That unsavory NEET is me.
And I'm the one who—despite all that—sits above his respected brother as the Demon King.
From Blow's perspective, it probably looks like I unjustly stole the Demon King's seat from his brother.
Hmm hmm hmm.
I need to make him realize my greatness immediately.
But how?
Do actual work.
Rejected.
Too much hassle. Like I said, if I meddle in politics, it'll only make things worse.
Balt has an established track record of managing the Demon race smoothly, so just handing things off to him is more efficient.
Beat him up a little.
Rejected.
That might make my image even worse than it already is.
It'd definitely be the quickest and most reliable way to make him recognize my strength, though.
But if the medicine's too strong and he shuts down completely, it'd be a disaster.
He obviously takes a lot of pride in his abilities, so if his spirit snaps, it might take ages to recover.
Long-term, it might actually help him grow, but the chances of recovery are maybe fifty-fifty at best.
More importantly, taking a capable piece offline during this critical period would be a terrible idea.
What else is there?
Nothing?
N-No way.
There has to be some groundbreaking method that would make everyone recognize my greatness!
Is there nothing? Anything at all?
While I was genuinely agonizing over this, there came a knock at the door.
When I granted permission to enter, in walked Balt and his brother Blow.
"Excuse us."
Balt entered with a proper bow, while Blow barged in without a word.
Balt shot him a reproachful look, but Blow ignored it completely.
He was willing to disregard his respected brother's cues, which meant he really, truly couldn't stand me.
"Your Majesty, I have something to discuss with you."
"What is it?"
"Once again, Your Majesty. Surely you already know what this is about?"
Balt said this with a wry smile.
Hmm?
I have no idea what he's talking about.
According to Balt, I was supposed to already know the contents of this discussion, but I genuinely had no clue.
"Sorry. I honestly don't have a clue. What's going on?"
When I said that, Balt and Blow exchanged a glance.
Blow had a vaguely triumphant look on his face, which bothered me.
"Big bro, see? I told you. This one doesn't even know what their own subordinates are doing. Total incompetence."
"Blow. This is the Demon King's court."
"No way. I'm gonna say it right here and now. You don't have what it takes to be the Demon King."
"Blow!"
And just like that, I get dissed out of nowhere.
What?
What is even happening right now?
Confusion hit me before anger did, and I couldn't make sense of any of it.
"Uh, can you at least tell me what this discussion is about?"
"Yes."
Balt handed me a stack of documents, wiping cold sweat from his brow.
"Thanks to the intelligence gathered by Lord Shiro, the current Seventh Army Commander Warkis's misconduct has come to light. Furthermore, preparations for a secret coup d'état have been underway, and it is now certain he will raise the banner of rebellion in the near future. We have the evidence."
I looked at the documents in my hand.
They were filled with information detailing the misconduct.
Wait, what are you even doing, Shiro?
"Since we have successfully detected this move at an early stage, I would like to take the initiative and crush the coup before it can be launched. To that end, I request permission to mobilize the Fourth Army under Blow's command."
O-Oh.
Um.
Huh?
Well, anyway, just—yeah.
"Leave it to you."
That's all I could say.
Seriously though, Shiro, what are you even up to?
This is clearly top-secret, classified intelligence.
How did you even get your hands on it?
Balt nodded without changing his expression at my halfhearted response.
Blow's temples bulged with veins, but before he could say anything, Balt pressed his head down.
"Then, we will proceed accordingly."
Balt bowed, and at the same time pressed down harder on the hand holding Blow's head, forcing him into a bow as well.
Blow looked like he was about to brush the hand away but held back at the last second.
He forced his head back up, then stormed out of the room with heavy, rough steps.
Balt bowed once more, then followed after him.
Ah, this... means they both think I'm an incompetent boss who doesn't even know what my own people are doing, doesn't it?
And what Shiro uncovered was a massive piece of intelligence.
An incompetent boss and a capable subordinate.
That's the image they have of me now, isn't it?
Of me, compared to Shiro.
What the heck!?
How did it come to this!?