We moved out of the fortress city and headed for the nearby dungeon door which we used to come here.
Once we reached there, I had my pets return to the Demon Forest as there would be no more battles.
I left a message to Byaku, who was very reliable, telling him to tell the others that I might not be back today, so they wouldn't have to worry about me being late.
…
"Okay, here we are! This is Gallia, the capital of the Rogard Empire."
[Hmmm, a Demon Lord can use some useful tricks, no? Can this door be placed in an unlimited number of places?]
The Spirit King asked this question as he stared at the door he had just passed through.
"There is a restriction that it must be within my domain, but as long as it's within my domain, I can use it as much as I want. I can also return to the Demon Forest now, just as I sent my pets home earlier. But, on the other hand, those from the other side can also use it to come to our side in an instant if they want to, so I made sure that no one but I can use it."
When I said this, he nodded his head.
[That's good. The line between "others" and "relatives" is one that must be drawn without fail if one is to be in a position of authority. If that line is blurred, you put yourself in danger. If you have a family, it is important to take such measures. To be fair, it is impossible for any creature in this world to fool the eyes of Leficios, and once they enter her domain, no one will be able to come back.]
That's right.
Lefi could even sense my approach before I even entered my dungeon.
"Well, yeah. But I don't want to rely on her in that aspect as much as possible. I mean…I'm still weaker than her, but I want to protect her as well if I can."
[…is that so? You truly love her.]
"Well, never mind that! Here we are at the Imperial Castle. Shall we start the tour?"
I scratched my cheek and tried to change the topic as if to cover up my embarrassment towards the somewhat smiling Spirit King.
[Mm, of course, please.]
As we talked, I showed him around the inside of the Imperial Castle, where we were currently located.
Thanks to the fact that the commander of the fortress city contacted them ahead of time, there were butlers and maids standing by here and there, making it easy for me to move around.
Well, although I was eager to "show Spirit King around," I was not familiar with the castle at all, so I asked those people to show me around from the halfway point onward!
Thinking about it, the only places I knew in the castle were the throne room, the former emperor's laboratory, and the conference room, so I asked a middle-aged man who seemed to be the castle butler, who was making various arrangements, to show me around, and enjoyed sightseeing in the castle as well.
The butler was very professional.
He didn't show any nervousness at all, and was very polite and smiling from start to finish.
I felt as if I had been taught what it meant to be a professional. The explanation of the castle was interesting, as well.
Now that I was emperor and the head of this country, I should give that butler a promotion or raise in salary. Definitely.
[It is the first time for me to see human structures up close like this. It is quite interesting.]
The Spirit King, who had traveled to many places in his life, was also fond of doing such things as taking a detailed look at furnishings, walls, pillars, and architectural style.
It made me happy to listen when he talked about the things that interest him.
Well, it was a castle that I wasn't involved in at all.
"Hmm, it's also interesting for me to see it like this."
[? You are the owner of this castle, right?]
"Technically yes, but I am more like a decoration and mostly not around. I don't even know much about this place. Well, it can't be denied that it is now part of my territory, and I'm the boss at the top. No doubt about that, and if something troublesome happens that could not be managed by the people currently managing it, I'll deal with it. That's about it in terms of my responsibilities. And though I am certainly the ruler, I am not really ruling it."
So, even though I wanted to look around the castle because it looked interesting, I would feel bad if I disturbed the people at work, so I did not want to roam around as I pleased.
In short, there was no sense of "my home" in this castle.
Who would go into the back of someone's house and look around? No one.
[Ku, kuku, I see, you hold the reins but do not rule, huh? Isn't that a very good position for a ruler?]
"Well, not really, it is quite a hassle."
It was definitely not that big of a deal, that's for sure.
Oh, by the way, maybe I should show the castle to little ones when I have the time.
In fact, I had never brought any of my family members over here.
Partly because it was simply too dangerous, but also because I knew people wouldn't think well of me, the emperor, leisurely exploring the castle with my family while the political situation was still unstable.
I really didn't give a darn about the animosity that would build up against me, but I didn't want my family, especially the little girls, to feel bad about this.
However, while the [Human Supremacy] thing hadn't died down yet, there seemed to be a sense of calm in the empire, and slowly but surely, interactions among the different races had increased.
Now that I think about it, not only the young girls but also the adults were interested in visiting the Rogard Empire. So it might just be the right time to bring them here to play and explore the castle.
…Right, it was a good opportunity since the Spirit King was also around. I didn't know what his future plans were, so I would have to ask him, and depending on his answer, I might be able to invite the members of my family over tomorrow and have dinner with them here.
While I was thinking about this, a soldier ran up to the butler who had been guiding us, and whispered something in his ear.
What was it? The butler nodded his head and then turned to me and said.
"Your Majesty, may I ask you a question?"
"What is it?"
"Well, actually… I have been informed that Finar-sama will be arriving in the capital in about an hour."