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 Dukerank Ein-san?]
[…To put it bluntly, Ein's abilities are just too far apart from the Countranks, 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 Einsan 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, Highranking 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.
~ ~ Extra : Each Camps Head Subordinate and Strongest Subordinate ~
~
Undeworld King Camp ※ They don't have the concept of
subordinates in their camp, but if they had to be named…
Head and Strongest Subordinate : "Maid" Ein
Death King's Subordinates
Head and Strongest Subordinate : "Black Violent Star" Iris Illuminus
War King's Subordinates
Head Subordinate : "Hell Fire" Agni
Strongest Subordinate : "Peaceful Sky" Ozma
World King's Subordinates
Head Subordinate : "Magic Flower Princess" Lillie
Strongest Subordinate : "Grass Flower Princess" Camellia
Dragon King's Subordinates
Head Subordinate : " Black Dragon" Tornadia Fafnir
Strongest Subordinate : "Sky Dragon" Nidzveld
Phantasmal King's Subordinates
Head and Strongest Subordinate : "Mad Oni" Pandora
Serious-senpai : [I wonder why? Normally, when one hears the word
"Maid", they would think of devoted characters or those who can do all
the household chores, but in this novel, when you hear the word "Maid",
I would think of them as "characters with high combat power"? The
named maid characters in the novel… Ein, Lunamaria, Illness, Eta,
Theta… actually have high combat power.]