Fieldwork wrapped up for the day.
We were all having tea on the garden deck — Ouroboros’s brewing, as usual — when Sonya, mid-bounce, came out with this:
“But really — treating Demon Lord Cornelia’s aide… DEVIL MARSHAL Ouroboros as a housemaid… Tatsuya is amazing~♪”
“Eh? Wait — Ouroboros was that big a deal?”
I mean — I knew she was Cornelia’s aide, sure.
Ouroboros chuckled.
“Hardly anything of the sort.”
“If SONYA of all people says it, I suspect it’s genuinely significant.”
The rabbit queen lives in a state of terminal carefreeness, after all.
Hierarchies barely register with her.
“Fufu — next to the weak I may seem impressive, but among the truly strong, one such as I…”
I know she’s STRONG. That’s established.
What I’m asking about is the power-structure side of things.
Ouroboros’s former master being a loli-baba somewhat undermines the gravitas.
And in our house she’s simply… the maid.
“So how many subordinates did you have, back in the day?”
“I ranked as an executive at Lady Cornelia’s Dragon God Palace, so… hmm… those below my station would number… twenty or so?”
“Oh? Fewer than I expected?”
Well — at the end of the day, Cornelia’s a curry-obsessed child Demon Lord.
She’s semi-retired eccentric nowadays, so modest power makes sense.
“Ah, in the OLD days there were servants and soldiers beyond counting, of course. But Lady Cornelia now holds to demilitarization and thrift.”
“So back then — how many did you command?”
“Full-time staff of the Dragon God Palace… perhaps five hundred thousand?”
“YOU REALLY WERE A BIG DEAL!”
“I was aide to a Demon Lord… those were merely my direct subordinates. Numbers of that order follow naturally.”
Half a million. Live-in staff alone.
I see. So she genuinely was extraordinary once.
Actually — thinking it through, Cornelia is STILL a sitting Demon Lord. If she ever seriously called the banners, demon-kind would mobilize in the MILLIONS, presumably.
Phew. Underestimate her as a mere curry enthusiast and someday I’ll lose a limb.
Going forward, I’ll show that one a bit more consideration. Fukujinzuke pickles on her curry, every serving.
Heh. I can already picture the beaming face.
“Wait — the Dragon God Palace HOUSES half a million? How big is this place?”
“Oh, quite large?”
“Concretely. How large.”
“From the entrance to Lady Cornelia’s bedchamber… perhaps twenty kilometers? The grounds run thirty kilometers square — with soldiers’ barracks, staff dormitories, taverns, even shops for daily goods.”
“That is not a mansion. That is a CITY.”
“She reigns over all reptile-kind — dragons and lizardmen included. I myself am exactly what my name says: a Divine Serpent. A species of demigod.”
“A demigod… incredible.”
“And Lady Cornelia is no DEMI-anything, mind you? She is one of the Twelve Pillars… an existence essentially synonymous with a god.”
”…Right. Fukujinzuke AND extra meat. Noted.”
“Pardon? Whatever do you mean?”
“Nothing. Talking to myself.”
We all live like chummy housemates, but it’s dawning on me I may have been doing some genuinely reckless things.
I tease her constantly, for one…
The time I served hayashi rice instead of curry, she flew into a genuine rage.
And during Old Maid penalty games, I’ve full-on PINCHED her cheeks…
“Ouroboros? Should I raise your salary — or your allowance, at least?”
“Eh? Whyever for?”
“Working a DEMIGOD to the bone for twenty-five silver a month can’t be legal, surely?”
She originally came here as Cornelia’s punishment posting, but still. Gods presumably merit god-tier compensation.
At that, Ouroboros began to giggle.
“It is quite alright, Master.”
“Meaning?”
“I am hardly deprived. The food here outclasses the Dragon God Palace, and do you not gift me clothes and sundries constantly as it is?”
“Well — true, but I could still bump the allowance a little, you know?”
And Ouroboros smiled — a full, radiant smile — and said:
“Serving you, Master, is the greatest happiness I have ever known. As things stand, I want for nothing.”
Well. Point, set, match.
Say something like that, and all I CAN do is grin like an idiot.
・Announcement
A new work has begun. A strongest-protagonist story — honestly among the most polished things I’ve written, commercial work included. I have high hopes for this one; please give it a look.