After we finished telling Zwei-san about her promotion to Duke-rank, Alice and I teleported once again through her Teleportation Magic. The next place we arrived at was another large city I'm seeing for the first time.
[...Hey, Alice. Is this town ruled by Megiddo-san by any chance?]
[How did you know?]
[Well, there's that huge coliseum in the middle of the city so...]
Yes, this is the first time I've come to this city, but seeing that coliseum in the middle of the city which clearly had a strangely large size, it looks like a symbol of the city.
I had heard that the city ruled by Megiddo-san has a huge coliseum, so I could predict this right away.
With us coming to this city, does that mean the next person we're going to tell about their promotion to Duke-rank would be one of the War King's subordinates?
...It's already settled that the Head Subordinate, Agni-san, would be raised to Duke-rank, but as for the other one.... Could it be Ozma-san? When I saw him at the Six Kings Festival, he easily stopped Pandora-san's attack, and he seemed like someone with unfathomable strength.
While I was trying to guess in my head who would be the Duke-ranks, I saw Alice sending out two hummingbirds.
[...Going over there is troublesome, so I called them over here. If I go to that coliseum, that red gorilla would definitely come out, and things would get noisy.]
As usual, Alice was very harsh with Megiddo-san. While I was thinking about this, Agni-san and Ozma-san appeared without a sound right after that.
I don't know if I should say it's to be expected from Six Kings Executives or not, but I'm a little surprised as they seriously arrived in an instant.
[I'm sorry for calling you both all the way out here.]
[No, it's no problem.]
[Even so, I wonder what's going on? For Phantasmal King-sama to call us out here with Miyama-kun with you, I can't quite guess what's going on.]
Both Agni-san and Ozma-san seemed slightly puzzled, or rather, unsure why Alice had called them. Indeed, it would be difficult for people to realize the reason for our visit was to have them raised to Duke-rank if they hadn't been told beforehand.
[Well, I guess you're right. How should I say this... Oi, you who claim that you're some middle-aged guy! Don't think you can get away with this anymore! Do you think I would forget how you fought back in that battle in the God Realm? You probably already guessed what I'm here for, but I'm going to have you raised to Duke-rank.]
[A- Ahaha... No, I wouldn't say any complaints about that. I mean, I thought you would have told me this sooner... Ahh, so that's also why you called Agni huh.]
[Yes. We are revising the criteria for certifying someone a Duke-rank, so we're raising the ratio by about 2 from each camp. And so, I now officially certify Agni-san as a Duke-level, High-ranking Demon.]
With a wry smile, Ozma-san agreed to what Alice was saying, and even though she was stunned by the sudden event, after a little while, Agni-san deeply bowed.
[...Thank you very much. It's a great honor, and I will continue to strive to live up to such a title.]
[Congratulations, Agni-chan. Let's go report this to Master... Maybe he'll throw a big banquet to commemorate this occasion.]
[Yes! I'm still not as good as Ozma-sama, but I think it's fate that we were able to rise to Duke-rank at the same time! And so, please marry me!]
[...Eeeehhh, with the flow of the story, you're gonna lead things up to that? N- No, I don't think being elevated to Duke-rank has anything to do with marriage.]
[I see... I understand. Well then, I will propose again another time.]
[...I don't think you understand at all though.]
After Agni-san proposed to Ozma-san along with the flow, Ozma-san responded to her with a troubled smile. It doesn't feel like he dislikes her, but I wonder why? It's just my hunch, but I get the feeling that, from Ozma-san's point of view, he thinks of Agni-san like a younger sister or a daughter, and he doesn't consider her as a love interest.
No, I'm not exactly sure, but Ozma-san somehow doesn't seem to be good at love-related matters like this.
[...Errr, Ozma-san, how should I say this... It seems like Ozma-san also has things you aren't good at huh.]
[Ahaha, rather, I think I have many things I'm not good at. When it comes to this topic, I at least don't think I can beat Miyama-kun. I'm so bad at it that I'd even like to consult with you.]
[If you're alright with me, I would always be available...]
[Thanks. Let's talk over drinks again.]
Ozma-san had this aura of a noble bachelor, but more than that, as I had predicted earlier, his current tone suggests that he's simply not good at talking about love-related matters.
[But now, I'm at least one step ahead of Epsilon, right?]
[...Agni-chan? Please don't say things that may agitate Epsilon-chan. No, it's perfectly OK to agitate her when it comes to combat-related matters, but please don't agitate her on anything related to Uncle, okay... Seriously...]
Speaking of which, I remember hearing how Epsilon-san had also been making her approach to him. I don't know what kind of approach the cool Epsilon-san makes, but somehow, from Ozma-san's tired expression... She's probably making pretty fierce approaches.