At the airship.
After following Yuki and the others around the capital, the King of the Demon Realm, Finar, had run out of time, so he left them to start his official work, which was to survey the ruins, and was about to move towards the airship docks.
Originally, investigating ruins was not his job, but due to information brought to him by Shen, the former emperor Shendra, he decided to take the job and visited the Rogard Empire after giving up his work in the Demon Realm.
According to Shen, the ruins were apparently used as an archive, and there was a high possibility that very valuable information, which could not be disclosed to the public, was lying there.
Moreover, it was a site where a heavy defense mechanism was set up that was not found anywhere else.
The current emperor of the Rogard Empire was Yuki, but Finar, as one in charge of the majority of the actual office matters, had to decide what to do with the information.
Well, in addition to the Demon Lord Yuki, or rather the Demon Emperor Yuki, there was also the Spirit King Yg-Drazil, which was why he decided to put that important official business on the back burner and enjoyed sightseeing in the imperial capital.
"Haah…it was quite a good experience, I guess."
Finar laughed to himself as he looked out the window of the airship.
The Demon King Finar was a ruler. A ruler who governed the vast territory known as the Demon Realm, and was the head of the Demon Tribe, which consisted of a motley assortment of species.
It would not be an exaggeration to say that he was the most influential King on the continent at present, and among the Demon Kings of the past, there was no King who had as much say over other countries as he did.
He was the first King who ruled with knowledge in the Demon Realm, where power was everything, and by doing so, he made further development of the Demon Realm, making the toughness of the Demon race known to the world more than ever before.
Even the demon race that believed in power could not help but recognize his skill, and he made the people of the demon realm realize that the current Demon King, was the most ineffectual King of all time, and could be a king of the demon race even without absolute power.
Yes, Finar showed his overwhelming ability to the extent that he changed the values of the demon race.
He was that outstanding.
Therefore, he was rarely able to act freely when he was out.
Finar had no relatives, so he did not have to make any special time to spend with his family.
That was how kings were supposed to be.
All powers came at a price.
Whether it was power in the physical sense or power in the sense of authority, it was always the same.
As the ruler of the demon world, it was natural for him not to have freedom in his daily life, and in fact, he had a mentality that did not make him feel any concern about it.
But today's time spent as Yuki's friend was truly enjoyable for him.
Yuki's family only viewed him as a friend of their husband, a friend of their brother, or a friend of their Lord. There was no strange respect mixed in.
It was refreshing, and more comfortable and enjoyable than he had expected.
–Yuki was a good friend.
He had several categories of friends, but Yuki was one among them that he could spend time with on an equal footing.
Yuki was now equal in power and had as much influence as Finar, but he himself said that he found all these governing matters troublesome.
If he said that he found it troublesome, then he meant it. He was never someone who would mince his words. If he was going to do something, then he would do it, always in a direct manner.
If someone asked Yuki why he would do so, he would simply answer, "Because I am a Demon Lord!!" oftentimes, but that was probably just a part of his personality in general.
Seeing him and his family, it occurred to Finar that it might be fun if he had a companion and a family to go out with.
"Hahahaha, when I get back home, I should seriously try to arrange a blind date."
The same topic had come up once before in the elven village, and at that time, the vassals were interested in the matter.
Finar had already lived for 200 years. Even for someone from the demon race with a long life span, he had spent so much time as a single man that he should have found a partner by now.
It would be a good time to seriously look for a partner.
***
POV – Demon King Finar
Today, I had another very significant experience.
I became acquainted with the Spirit King Yg-Drazil.
This was a great fortune for me.
He was a great sage who had been watching the world from the distant past and was said to have helped pacify it.
Even among the demon race, whose life span was relatively longer than that of other races, sightings of him occur only once every few generations, especially those who have actually met him and exchanged words with him.
I never thought that I would be able to establish a friendship like this in such a place.
Was it my imagination that such an amazing event seemed to happen every time I met Yuki?
No, something definitely was causing this to happen.
He must have been born under such a star.
Well, if he wasn't, he would never have become the emperor of a human nation, even though he was a Demon Lord, no matter what the circumstances were.
As I looked outside the window of the airship and giggled in amusement, one of my men came to report to me.
"Finar-sama. We have about 30 minutes left until we arrive at the citadel [Fulmundo]."
"Okay, got it."
Well, it was time to get to work.
Let's switch gears and get on with this.
◇◇◇
Sightseeing in the Imperial Capital was fun.
The Demon King Finar, who had been following us for quite a long time, returned to his work on the way back to the capital, and the Spirit King, after looking around again, seemed satisfied and left the capital on his own.
The Spirit King, who said he wanted to see the whole capital, seemed to be interested in architecture, but he was more interested in people's lives and activities, and asked many questions to the butler who came along to guide us.
I was wondering if this was in the field of so-called… cultural anthropology?
I was not so familiar with it myself, but I believe it was the study of people's lifestyles and customs in a particular cultural sphere.
I guess the easiest way to understand it would be the value of beauty.
For example, a woman who was considered beautiful in the Heian period (794-1192) and a woman who would be considered beautiful today would naturally be completely different, which means that the definition of beauty would change depending on the culture of the time.
Even today, the definition of beauty in this country differed from that in other countries, and the same could be said for cuisine, architecture, and trends.
While watching this, Spirit King said he would wander around the Rogard Empire for a while and then go somewhere else.
In time…we would meet him again.
It was a day full of many things, starting with exterminating bugs from the ruins, but I would say that it was a very fulfilling time.
As I was thinking that it was time for me to go to sleep as I was already tired after seeing the sleeping faces of the little girls in their dreams, Lefi, who was also awake, called out to me.
"Yuki, by the way, the game is still in progress, right?"
"Hm? Ah…come to think of it, we were just in the middle of it."
I was in the middle of playing chess, but I stopped and thought about things, only to recall after she mentioned it.
"Okay, let's do it. I've had a really good time today, and I'm going to end the day on a high note by winning a game!" (Yuki)
"The date had already changed. Well, I'm afraid I'll be the one to go to sleep comfortably! My husband will be gritting his teeth in frustration…I don't like it when you grin at me. I'm afraid I'm going to have to deal with it."
"Stop being so serious all of a sudden. –Let's see, this board… Hey, whose turn is it now?"
"…I don't know, so let's start from the beginning."
"Fine."
And so we started the game from scratch as usual.
"Hey, how is your condition right now?"
"Mm, no problem. I've heard that pregnant women tend to have a rough time because of pregnancy, but so far I haven't had any problems. But…I can feel each day that there is certainly another life inside of me. Rest assured, your child is growing up properly."
"…I see."
As I scratched my cheeks, she must have sensed my inner thoughts.
"You let your guard down, Yuki!"
"!!!? You are so good at not missing the slightest upset, attacking without missing the moment. As my rival, I can't help but notice it…!!"
"The world of competition is not easy. If you're not concentrating, I'll just devour you myself!"
"Show it! That's enough of a handicap! Let me show you the difference between you and me!"
"You're just barking at me! Why not show me what you're made of?"
The usual exchange continued.