#673 The Hard Workers’ Snowball Fight

Demon Kingdom Prime Minister Lucife Focale continues the story.

They say birds of a feather flock together...

The snowball fight teams were randomly assigned, but somehow, our members seemed to have been chosen according to a certain rule.

Hard workers.

He’s a hard worker.

She, too.

They’re all hard workers.

All those gathered here are individuals who have been subjected to significant struggles in their respective environments!

“Gaaaaaaaah! Nobody ever listens to meeeee! Especially Golden Bat, who’s too free for his own good! They appointed me the Guildmaster before I knew it, and now all my responsibilities keep piling upppppp!!!”

“Not even I can go against what Sis Mahi saysssss! I want to meet Orkubo anytime I wantttttt!!!”

“I sympathize with your plights! I understand, Lord Silver Wolf, Lady Zoth Syraaaaaaa!!!”

Mamoru of the Heavenly Four embraces the other races by their shoulders and cries with them.

Why are they all such good friends?

“That man named Belphgamilia must’ve put you at another disadvantage today, did he, Lord Mamoru?” 

“Of course he did!”

Don’t nod with so much force.

“If only Lord Belphgamilia, who is always lazy and has free time, would join me! What kind of excuse is ‘I’m too busy drinking coffee, so I’ll have to pass,’ anyway?! Now I’m stuck here working in his stead, too!” 

“I’m so glad to hear it’s just another day for Lord Mamoru!!!”

“But! Today, we have an even bigger presence with us! Prime Minister Lucife Focale is undoubtedly the hardest worker in the world!!!”

And Mamoru introduces me with a bang. 

“Lord Lucife Focale has been supporting the Demon Kingdom as a major figure since Demon King Baal’s time! Lord Baal was famous for his reckless policies that burdened his retainers during his reign! The one who endured that burden at the forefront was none other than Lord Lucife!!!”

Well...

I cannot deny that...

“He also rebelled against Lord Baal and enforced a generational change with Lord Zedan’s support! Afterward, he became the prime minister and supported the nation from the most important position! There have been numerous crises and reforms up to this day, but Lord Lucife Focale was able to overcome them all because he was the prime minister!”

“So, it wasn’t just any ordinary struggle!”

“No wonder his hard-working power is on a completely different level...!”

Clap, clap, clap, clap, clap, clap, clap, clap...!

For some reason, they started applauding.

“It’s an honor to compete with Lord Lucife Focale on the same team! Let’s show them the responsibility we hard workers bear!”

“Indeed, my life has definitely been full of hardships...”

Now that it has been pointed out, I’m starting to accept it.

During Lord Baal’s active days, I was constantly subjected to unreasonable demands daily.

Even after Lord Zedan became the Demon King, my life as a bureaucrat was no less complicated.

But because His Majesty is a wise ruler, more work must be done under him. 

Reforms, improvements, and the like. The upper ranks have to work hard, so the lower ranks have to work a lot too.

But among all that...

The person who has it the roughest during Lord Zedan’s reign is...

...Mamoru.

“Though, to be more precise, it was an incident caused by your father-in-law, right...?!”

“Hahaha, yes! I’m sorry for my father-in-law!”

Let me explain.

Before Mamoru, a guy named Ravillian held the title of “Coveted” in the Heavenly Four. He was a fellow demon soldier of the same generation as me, but...

He plotted to marry his daughter to Lord Zedan, see.

To make that happen, he conspired to overthrow Lady Astres, whom Lord Zedan was most fond of at the time.

Naturally, such crafty plans couldn’t fool the wise Lord Zedan, and Ravillian was exposed and overthrown...

But it turns out Ravillian is Mamoru’s father-in-law...!

“At the time of that incident, Lord Zedan was absent. The Human Kingdom was still in existence, the highest commanding officer was missing in action, and the ambitious rebels were busy making merry...! Who do you think worked desperately to maintain the political scenes?”

“That would be the Demon Kingdom’s Prime Minister, Lucife Focale!”

There you have it, everyone!

Who do you think is to blame for all the trouble I went through that day?!

“It’s because of my father-in-law! I truly am sorry!!!”

“So this is what they call chained suffering...”

I put the screws on Mamoru without caring about the people around us.

Well, the only good thing that pesky Ravillian ever did was make Mamoru, a hard worker, his successor.

By becoming his son-in-law, Mamoru qualified as the Coveted of the Heavenly Four. Compared to Belphgamilia, who’s highly capable but won’t move a muscle unless there’s a worldwide crisis, and the other two, who are still young and inexperienced, he’s the only one I can put my complete trust on. 

If it weren’t for him, the Demon King’s Army would be in trouble by now.

But because of that, the burden on him is even greater...

“...I understand that you are all carrying a lot of burdens, but then why are you in this situation?”

If you’ve got so many things to do, wouldn’t it have been better to focus on work instead of coming here to play?

Or maybe that’s too rude to ask?

Mamoru has already done half his work, and I’m the same way.

“It’s an extension of my work. I’ve been participating in Orkubo’s Castle every year since the year before last,” says Silver Wolf of the human race.

Then again, he is a therianthrope, a minority race unique to humans, with the head of a wolf and the body of a human.

He is said to have higher physical abilities than regular humans, probably due to having beast factors...

Most fascinating...!

“I’m also doing this as a gesture of gratitude to Lord Saint, who helped me and the discovery of a new significance in reinvigorating listless top-ranked adventurers. I’m applying both of these aspects.”

I see.

He tries to find meaning in this kind of amusement...

He truly is a hard worker.

But one person is different.

“I’m just taking a break,” says the mermaid, Lady Zoth Syra. “Ever since being assigned as the prime minister, my stress has become flexible! If I don’t relieve it occasionally, I’ll snap and destroy the world!!!”

“Lady Zoth’s case is serious enough to actually cause destruction, so it’s even scarier,” someone from the sidelines says.

“The truth is, I wanted to make a devilish course like last year and enjoy watching the players get run over. But this time, I’m going to participate as a player to relieve stress. I want to feel that exhilarating air by mowing down my enemies!”

She’s clear about her intentions.

“Well, that’s my purpose too. When I’m busy with work for long periods, I inevitably get frustrated...”

“There aren’t many places where we can fully demonstrate our physical abilities. In that sense, Orkubo’s Castle allows us to unleash our power without restraint.”

“When we get serious, we tend to cause problems somewhere,” says the other youngster.

I see now.

Some people in the world would unnecessarily burden themselves with hardships.

This is probably the place that helps them survive this forsaken world.

...I suppose I need such a place for myself, too.

“Ideally, I’d like to crush the person causing the stress and solve the problem completely...!”

“That’s the fun of competitive games, isn’t it?”

Yes, I understand.

Most stress usually comes from a person causing it.

There’s someone like that in my life too!!!

“Golden Bat is too busy expanding his One Hundred Otherworldly Famous Mountains and skipped this year’s event...! I can’t complain much, though; his work has helped with the acceptance of adventurers in the Demon Kingdom...!”

“That sounds tough... Lord Belphgamilia isn’t participating this year, as I mentioned before...”

“Sis Mahi wouldn’t participate in this kind of event anyway. Even if she did, there’s no way I’d win against her...!”

The three of them seem frustrated and at a loss for what to do.

...Heh, I can’t help but feel sorry for them.

After all, the biggest cause of stress for me—Great Demon King Baal—is definitely going to participate in this snowball fight.

He was the one who initially invited me, and I even have information that he’s here in this arena!

If I can hit him well in the snowball fight, I will take that opportunity to release my stress by throwing more snowballs than necessary!

Then, with that feeling of relief, I’ll get the energy to work tomorrow!

Waaaaaaaahahaahaha!

“Oh, that reminds me, sir, I forgot to report something...” Mamoru interrupts, “The Great Demon King won’t participate in the snowball fight.”

“Huh?”

“It seems he’s completely fascinated by the snow sculptures on display, saying, ‘How can I not enjoy such cultural articles!’ and has been hanging out over there all day. All of his plans have changed.”

With the damned Great Demon King Baal ditching the snowball fight...

The rest of the Selfless Workaholics and I focused on relieving our stress by simply moving our bodies.