I slept for a night and woke up feeling totally refreshed.
I'd been worried I'd still feel like garbage today, but thankfully that turned out to be needless paranoia.
Anyway, I'll go ask the Demon King for the position I thought of during the negotiations with the Divine Word Religion.
All I need is a fancy title with no actual work attached, right?
"Shiro-chan wants a job? Then here, take the Tenth Army and manage it for me."
Hah!?
I casually asked for some made-up position, and they dumped an entire army on me.
How did it come to this?
No, seriously, how?!
"Why?"
"Right now, Barto's leading the army reorganization, but while we've got soldiers, we don't have officers to lead them. The Tenth Army's still in the middle of forming — we haven't even gathered soldiers yet. So, our Demon King's Army can't afford to leave useful talent sitting around doing nothing!"
The person sprawled across her desk eating snacks is lecturing me.
This from the head of the Demon King's Army, who's the one sitting around doing the least work of all.
"By the way, Kuro-chan took on the Ninth Army."
The administrator is leading an army now?
She definitely doesn't need an army, right?
Combat-wise, a legion commander should be more than enough, right?
Well, then I guess that applies to me too.
"No, seriously, there just aren't enough useful people. I tried dragging out the ones holed up in their own territories, but almost none of them can fight. They're excellent bureaucrats, though."
Whatever happened to the whole "the Demon race values merit" premise?
Well, yeah, I guess that makes sense.
When you run politics on nothing but brute force, there's no way you'd achieve the same standard of living as the Human race.
So "meritocracy" comes with an asterisk.
"So, I'll have Barto bring you a list of soldiers who haven't been assigned yet. Just put together a legion however you see fit."
"I've never done anything like that before?"
"It's fine, it's fine. Where there's a will, there's a way."
And just like that, I became a legion commander on a whim.
And the Demon King fully intends to work me to the bone.
I was just supposed to get a position that was all title and no substance. How did it come to this?
But since I've taken it on — or rather, had it forced on me — I can't exactly back out now.
They're setting aside a private office for me in the Demon King's castle, so the Demon King is apparently dead serious.
Just like that, I accidentally got myself a job.
I've technically held the title of D's subordinate candidate, so it's always felt like a trainee arrangement.
It's like getting promoted to department head at the place you're interning at?
Or is that not quite right?
I don't have any memories of being a regular working adult, so I wouldn't know the first thing about companies.
To all of you out there struggling with Japan's brutal job market: The Demon King's Army is hiring talented individuals.
Competitive pay, reasonable hours, but no guarantee of survival.
Please do come in for an interview.
We're waiting.
Ah.
Maybe my mistake was bringing it up to the Demon King in such a casual "might as well" kind of way.
But then again, if I think about it, having a legion I can freely command might not be a bad thing.
Most things can be handled with my split bodies, so I never really cared before.
But using split bodies always felt like operating behind the scenes, in secret.
With a legion, I can openly step into the spotlight and get work done.
Whether that's actually an advantage, I can't say yet.
If I'm going to build a legion anyway, I'd want to fill it with familiar faces.
So, I asked the vampire girl and the oni boy if they wanted to enlist.
"I'm still studying."
"Please give me some time to think about it."
Rejected.
Would you believe it.
I figured at least one of them would join, but it was apparently just wishful thinking.
Damn.
At any rate, Fermina is technically under my care, so I forced her to participate.
She was raised with an elite education, so she should be able to handle military management and administration.
And so, she was appointed vice-commander.
After deciding, I told her about it afterward, and she accepted with a vague smile.
Sure, she was probably panicking on the inside, but the noble skill of keeping that completely off her face is seriously impressive.
I'd like certain vampires to take a lesson or two from her — they wear everything right there on their face.
Then that night, when Barto showed up with piles of soldier lists and other documents, I told him I wanted to recruit Mera from his ranks.
He rejected me with a flat "Please don't."
Apparently, Mera is already ready to command an army, so she'll soon be appointed as the Fourth Legion's commander in Barto's place.
As for the newly freed Barto, he'll be leading the Demon King's direct army, so he's not going to get any less busy.
Barto is literally working himself to death at Mach speed, but he won't actually die, right?
He's wearing the same dead expression as Mera — or worse.
I started feeling sorry for him, so I cast a spell to perk him up.
Hang in there, Barto.
Stay alive, Barto.
By the next day, my private office in the Demon King's castle was finished, so I dove headfirst into sorting through the documents Barto had given me.
He put together all the paperwork for establishing a new legion in half a day, had the office built in a single day — Barto's administrative skills are literally maxed out.
Couldn't he just handle everything himself at this point?
Oh wait, then Barto would literally work himself to death.
But could you maybe stop bringing me documents faster than I can process them?
How much is there, seriously, Barto?
Just like that, staring down piles of paperwork, a few days flew by in the blink of an eye.
Sitting in a chair nonstop left my back and backside aching.
Plus, I'd been reading documents with my eyes closed using clairvoyance, so my eyes were tired in this weird, unnatural way.
Not normal eye strain, but... mana-based eye strain? Is that a thing?
Also, my hand hurts from writing too much.
Who knew desk work could damage a god's body this much.
I've gotten a small glimpse of what Barto goes through.
I'm so glad I appointed Fermina as vice-commander.
I never would have won this battle alone.
Having the capable secretary Fermina around has been an absolute lifesaver.
Now then, the paperwork isn't all done yet, but I have to head to a different battlefield.
The second negotiation meeting with the Divine Word Religion.
D: "Paperwork is brutal."