If Alice wanted to, she could probably finish all the preparations in an instant like Ein-san, but she didn't. Instead, she went about the lunch preparations in a relaxed manner, chatting with me and Anima.
This atmosphere... I don't know how to describe it, but I feel that the preparation itself feels enjoyable. Rather, I feel that conversations often become more lively in situations like this.
[Speaking of which, I'm thinking of revising the peerage ranks in the near future.]
[Revising, the criteria?]
[There's that too. I'm going to adjust various details, but what I'm mainly focusing on.... is that I'm thinking of raising the ranks of some of the peak Count-ranks to Duke-rank.]
The topic that Alice brought up while preparing the vegetables... was revising a part of the peerage ranks. Alice talks about it very casually, but this is a pretty big change.
As there has only been one Duke-rank, Ein-san, back then, it's easy to imagine that this will be a major reform for the entire Demon Realm.
[...Well, to put it in an extreme way, the number of Count-ranks has increased too much. The difference in ability between the higher and lower Count-ranks is getting bigger and bigger, so I'm trying to adjust that.]
[...Come to think of it, I've always been wondering about this, but why is it that there no "Marquis-rank" for the Peerage-holding, High-ranking Demons?]
[Ahh~~ That's simply because I had forgotten about such a rank when I was first setting it up. In the first place, the Peerage system I created was just to make it easier to manage information in the Demon Realm, and I just decided on the naming rather randomly. I forgot to create the Marquis-rank at that time, and when I realized it later... Well, for me, I didn't really care about the naming as long as it was manageable and didn't want to go to the trouble of changing it once it was popularized, so I just left it as it was.]
[I see.]
Anima nodded her head in understanding, but I had actually heard more details about this from Alice before.
In Alice's previous world, the first to summon the Great Evil God of Despair was a noble who was known as one of the Five Marquises, and because of the horrific damage done at that time, the title "Marquis" itself gave people a bad impression, and as history passed, the title Marquis disappeared.
By the time Alice was born, the title Marquis was no longer there, and its existence could only be confirmed in history books, which is why she forgot about it when she first created the Peerage system.
[The way you say it, why doesn't it seem like you're not going to add the Marquis-rank?]
[Yes, I did consider that, but decided against it. Not all of them think about it, but many of the current Count-ranks are still training to become Duke-ranks. It's not like I could just say "I've created a new rank for those above Count, but was inferior to Duke-ranks~~", right?]
[Well, that certainly will cause some dissatisfaction.]
[That's how it is. Well, since this would be the first revision, I need to take into account not only the simple strength, but also the power relationships between the camps, so for now, I'm planning to raise about two people from each camp to the Duke-rank.]
The increase in the number of Duke-ranks would probably become a major event in the Demon Realm, and it seems that care must be taken to ensure that each of the Six Kings' camps doesn't become bitter with each other, so how should I say this... I could see the hardships of the people managing them.
In fact, Alice didn't say it would be soon, and instead, said it would be in the near future, so I guess she's still thinking of various adjustments with that.
[Fumu... Alice-dono, why have you decided to raise two people in each camp? Since it's the first revision, wouldn't it be better to raise the ranks of each camp's Head Subordinate just to see how things go?]
[Ahh~~ It's that, you know? It would take long, so I'll try to be brief, but there are some camps where the "Head Subordinate" doesn't equal the "strongest subordinate". If I were to explain it with a camp you both know... For example, War King's strongest subordinate is Ozma-san. However, his Head Subordinate is Agni-san. The Head Subordinate is the one who organizes the subordinates, so there are some things that can't be measured by combat ability alone.]
[...It's a matter of honor huh. I see, even if that were the case, there are many people who think that the Head Subordinate is the strongest subordinate, and just raising the rank of either the Head Subordinate or the strongest subordinate would cause confusion.]
[That's right. For normal Demons, Count-ranks are on different levels and beings beyond their understanding. The only way to know who is stronger is to judge from other information... but there are many people who think that the Head of each camp is the strongest. Of course, there are camps where the Head is indeed the strongest. That's the case with my camp after all.]
Alice's explanation was easy to understand and convincing. If only Ozma-san is raised to Duke-rank, it wouldn't be good for the position of Agni-san, who is the Head Subordinate.
There would also probably be many subordinates who haven't managed to acquire a peerage, and Alice wouldn't want to cause too much confusion in that area.
[...Well, that's why I'm planning on raising the rank of each camp's Head and one other person.]
[Hey, Alice. It just occurred to me, but what about the current Duke-rank Ein-san?]
[...To put it bluntly, Ein's abilities are just too far apart from the Count-ranks, and if she remained a Duke-rank, the difference in ability between the higher and lower Duke-ranks would become unbelievable. I mean, even if you include the Six Kings, she's still one of the most powerful people in the world. Her being in such a position in itself is strange.... Well, that's why I'm going to ask Ein-san to move up one more level.]
In other words, it's like she would create a title between the Duke-rank and the Six Kings, and make it almost exclusively for Ein-san? Well, I heard that if you can be on par with Ein-san, you can become the Seventh King, so that may be an unavoidable measure.
But in that situation, one question arises.
[...Would Ein-san agree to that?]
[...Exactly that. That was what I was most worried about.]
I'm personally acquainted with Ein-san, so I know that she isn't happy about being called a Duke-rank. It seems that she doesn't like the fact that she, a maid, is called by such a title.
[Even the incoming Duke-ranks, after repeatedly asking them, were finally convinced that although they wouldn't identify themselves as Duke-rank, they wouldn't deny being called as such. Thinking about it, if they knew that I'm just creating another level higher and putting Ein-san to it, there would definitely be complaints.]
[...So, what are you going to do about it?]
[Well, I already have a solution in mind. I mean, I've thought about this matter for a long time. However... I've just been hesitant to implement it...]
[A rank higher than Duke-rank that could make Ein-san agree... Eh? Don't tell me...]
[Please don't say it. Even I don't like calling it that. However, I can't think of any other name that would convince her.]
Alice, staring into the distance, looked somewhat exhausted. It was painfully clear to me that he had probably worried about it many, many times before implementing it.
Anyhow, a really big change is about to occur... and the biggest one of them all is that the incomprehensible position of "Maid-level, High-ranking Demon" would be placed on the top of the High-ranking Demons...
However, it would be that, right... Maid being above Dukes, this clearly looks strange... but I feel like her ideology had infected me to the point that since it's Ein-san, Maids being above Dukes couldn't be helped.