Favors were very difficult to return. Ira knew this very well. Generally speaking, he would keep promises like "I owe you a favor", although the help of the demonic creatures was indeed worth a favor.
They should be enemies as he was the one who killed the Demon King's father…
Therefore, Ira did not care much about Vera using that favor now.
"Can you represent Demon King City?"
Ira, who was asking this, looked at Vera suspiciously. He undoubtedly meant to ask if the others in Demon King City knew that Vera had used his favor.
"Ah? Isn't it a favor for each of us?"
"…"
'Are you dreaming?'
Looking at Ira, who clearly expressed this, Vera, who was only joking, chuckled. She did not immediately say what she hoped Ira to do. Instead, she skirted around the topic. "What do you think of the Demon King?"
"With my brain."
"I'm asking seriously."
"I'm answering seriously too."
"…"
Looking at the speechless Vera, Ira stood on this platform with his arms crossed and began to answer seriously, "She's very weak… Among all the rulers I know, she's the weakest."
"Satan Leaf doesn't hate me. Even if I kill the previous Demon King, even if I treat her race as a stepping stone and become a publicly recognized expert, even if the Empire mentions the [Scarlet Dragon], they can't think of her and the previous Demon King but only me."
Looking at Ira who commented like this, Vera had to admit that he was right. She added, "Moreover, she doesn't have her own opinions, and her thoughts can easily be shaken by the persuasion of her trusted aides. Her strength can be trained, but her personality is difficult to correct."
—Aren't you someone under the Demon King? Is it fine to complain about your superior like this?
"Don't forget that I was the same as you in the past. We had similar thoughts, so we nurtured Isabella and her father, the qualified and rational Emperor."
As Vera spoke, she sighed and shook her head. "Is it really good to follow the Emperor's etiquette and do what the Emperor should do? It's far from when we first met her?"
Because of Vera's words, Ira also recalled the time when he first became the trusted aide of the previous Emperor, Yosef… At that time, Isabella was still a child who would muster her courage and ask for guidance on how to become a qualified ruler.
Perhaps Ira's rationality and Vera's rationality had purged the emotions that should have been passed down to Yosef.
"You're saying that our education philosophy is problematic?"
Ira, who had never thought of this, asked in return. He pondered for a moment and said, "However, my… or rather, our education of Isabella is very reasonable and correct. If…"
Vera nodded and added, "If you hadn't left."
That was indeed the case…
How should he put it? The most suitable Emperor of the Empire was a dictator. Yosef had already proven this, but Isabella could not be dictatorial… Her talent in the path of a professional was slightly average.
Strength was the key in this world, so Ira could not repeat the history of his previous world.
Therefore, Ira was very worried that after he left, Isabella would not be able to suppress… her people.
He was not talking about the nobles.
"I've never asked you before. Why did you become a lich?"
Ira asked Vera, who looked to be in her 25s or 26s, who looked young but did not have any childish aura. He asked, "Did you have a terminal illness that can't be treated?"
Because spellcasters would more or less overdraft their bodies to extract mana, the prevalence of illness was very high. Many spellcasters with incurable illnesses would want to become lichs.
The lich's body was "dead" to begin with, so it did not matter what illness it was. At most, they could directly remove or change the body parts.
"How old are you?"
Ira, who did not understand why Vera asked this, frowned. He was not afraid of others asking his age and replied very normally, "I'm in my sixties. Why do you ask?"
"I'm more than 200 years old… When I was 200 years old, I discovered demon patterns on my face."
Demon patterns? Many curses of the demons would indeed show patterns on their faces. Moreover, many half-demons with demonic blood would also have demon patterns on their bodies after a certain age.
Because she could not accept it, she might as well completely turn into a demonic creature.
"You're a half-demon?"
"Huh?"
The two of them who did not get the topic looked at each other. In the end, it was Vera who sorted out Ira's thoughts first. She chuckled and retracted it, "Oh my, no… The [demon patterns] I mentioned are also called [wrinkles] by some people."
"Are you crazy? People with normal brains will call it wrinkles directly."
Ira cursed sharply. He was about to leave impatiently and said, "To put it bluntly, don't you like youth and beautiful bodies? If you don't have anything serious, I'll go to the elves."
Regarding his words, Vera, who had been gossiping, was finally prepared to talk about serious matters. She stopped Ira and said, "Wait, wait, wait~ I mean, should we be like those nobles?"
Looking at the puzzled Ira, Vera coughed lightly and explained, "Many nobles will have many children, but the title and territory will usually only be passed down to one, right? If one of them is not satisfactory to the nobles, they will nurture the next."
"Until the successor they truly acknowledge is nurtured… right?"
"…"
Looking at Vera who was talking, Ira raised his eyebrows. He felt that he had guessed what she meant. He asked, "This [favor] of yours is too much… How long do I need to properly nurture Satan Leaf?"
Ira shook his head helplessly. He had never heard of favors being used like this. He rejected, "It's too strange to use favors like this. You might as well say [Please help the Demon King's faction rule the world]."
Vera: "Can I?"
"Of course not!"
Ira shook his head. He had no reason to help on this point.
"However, you killed the Demon King's father. You have to be responsible for continuing the bloodline of the scarlet dragon!"
"Get lost! Your excuse doesn't sound like you want me to teach her!"
"That's what I mean! There's no second scarlet dragon in the world, and no one will know how a scarlet dragon should fight. You're the only one who can teach her! The Demon King will become a more humane king than Isabella!"
"What does it have to do with me?!"
"…"
"Mr. Ira?"
At the firm voice behind them, Ira and Vera turned at the same time to look at Satan Leaf hugging her body in the cold wind of the terrace, at the little Demon King whose wings were trembling because of the traces of cold.
"Can you be my teacher?"
As she spoke, Satan Leaf looked at Ira pleadingly. The red tail behind her swept the ground, looking very nervous about what Ira would answer.
However, he was neither a good subject nor a qualified teacher…