After seeing Ravel return to sit down at her own desk, I said
“Well, let’s work hard today as well!”
My words were the signal for the start of today’s business
“““Yes!”””
“Yeah!”
Asia, Ravel, and Rossweisse-san responded with ‘Yes’, while Xenovia responded with ‘Yeah’ as business officially began. Ravel immediately reported on the allocation of work to us. “—This is the schedule for this evening. So, I leave it up to all of you then.”
After Ravel’s report ended, my peerage members travelled via magic circle to the clients who had made a request to us through the leaflets. My job was to see them off, and after waiting for them to return, I would listen to their report and record it into a document. Rias also performed the same work as a [King]. Ravel was basically our bookkeeper, but she would occasionally respond to requests and travel to the clients’ side. I would also go out for a job at times. Relying on Asia and the others was sufficient most of the time, but I was still responsible for my old regular customers whom I looked after when I worked under Rias, such as Morisawa-san and Mil-tan. Even now, I still received instructions such as ‘ride a bicycle over’. Even after becoming a [King], I still had to ride a bicycle over to my customers. After all, since I had only been a Devil for a year, one could insist that I was still an apprentice. It had nothing to do with my own position, it was simply important not to forget my roots. Indeed, although this was supposedly a branch of a larger business, we were still working within Rias’ territory, so we had to maintain contact in order to prevent a job clash. This was the same for the branch and the main store. Of course, there were also jobs that we received from Rias. This was roughly the feel that my ‘Devils’ job’ had. …It was necessary to be careful when working so as not to make any mistakes. After all, I wasn’t currently considered to be completely independent from Rias. She had simply entrusted one third of the territory that she controlled to me. …In the near future, I would also receive my own territory. I would then continue my business there. By then, it probably wouldn’t be Kuoh Town. It might be somewhere very close to here. However, there was also the possibility that it would be very far from here. In order to obtain my own territory in the human world, it was first necessary to gain the approval of the Underworld’s government and the Gremory family, as well as approval from my master Rias. After various judgements from above, a piece of territory would be prepared and assigned to me…the process was supposed to be something like that. I do wonder how much longer it will take before I obtain my own territory. …I really hope that I won’t be told that my territory is ready while I’m still unprepared. In terms of when, I hope to still live in Kuoh Town until I graduate from university. But, if the order comes from the higher-ups, it wouldn’t be good for me to complain…. From time to time, I feel uneasy about the changes that the future may bring. Just as I was immersed in such thoughts, someone called out to me. “O [King], please have some coffee.”
“Ah, thank you Bova.”
The one who brought me coffee was — Bova Tannin. Bova (mini-dragon form) was also assisting here. He was tentatively considered as one of my retainers, so he was assisting me and my peerage from the sidelines. During our Devil jobs, he always puts me and my peerage first, and also pays attention to the small details all the time. If there is a shortage of materials, he’ll immediately replenish the supply, and he also brings refreshments back for us. …Known as ‘Bova the Destroyer’ in the Underworld, he was now simply a dragon working diligently. Ravel had told me that while he was in the Underworld, Bova constantly sought powerful opponents to fight against. He particularly despised being compared to his own father or elder brothers. …Since Bova had not mentioned any of that to me up until now, I didn’t ask about it. I could also more or less understand based on the information. The eldest son of Tannin-ossan was well-versed in civil and military affairs, and gained the support of the people. This was while the second son became well-known as a researcher in the Underworld. He normally worked in human form at a specialised agency in the Maou’s territory. Ravel said that Bova felt a sense of inferiority towards his own father and elder brothers…. I don’t have any siblings, and my own father is an ordinary human, so I naturally didn’t feel inferior to any family members…. I guess I should say that I’m lucky. However, what I care about is — Bova looked up to me and was determined to become one of my retainers. I still haven’t asked him about it even now. Regardless of the identity of my retainer, not asking felt as though it was unfitting of the behaviour of a [King]…. “What is it about me that you respect so deeply?”
I could ask like that, but I wasn’t the kind of person who would arrogantly say that. If I really did ask like that, Bova would answer me…. For now I was letting things be, and waiting for the next opportunity to ask. I was currently still in the process of training and searching for new peerage members and participants for the Tournament, so that opportunity shouldn’t be too far off…. As I thought about my first retainer, I continued to work. A few hours later—. The first person to return via the magic circle was Xenovia. She also held her remuneration in hand. “I’m back. The client gave me an antique clock that had been a decoration. Ise, Ravel, I’m giving it to you for appraisal.”
Ravel received it and began to check on its value. “Thanks for your work. It looks like…it is quite old. To be sure, I’ll give this to the professional appraisers.”
Although there were special machines which were able to measure the value of a payment, it was only to a certain extent, so it was necessary to contact professional appraisers for an accurate measurement. At least, that was what the Gremory family did. After a while, Rossweisse-san also returned. “I’m also back. From the looks of it, mine appears to be a relatively rare piece of game software…”
Ravel began to check the payment that Rossweisse-san had received. “Thanks for your work, Rossweisse-sama. Hmm, we’ll also give this to the professional appraisers. Yes, Ise-sama, would you like to take a look?”
Since she knew that I was interested in the game software, Ravel asked me. I was actually quite interested in it, so I immediately went to look at the payment that Rossweisse-san received. …It was actually a slightly famous game from my childhood. “Ah, this game. It certainly is quite rare. But let’s hand it over to the appraisers first.”
I thus decided. This was the type of payment that could be directly given to my peerage, but the payments received by the Gremory peerage all went directly to the Gremory family’s warehouse.