Kumo desu ga, Nani ka? 272

The chairwoman has arrived so let’s begin the board meeting. Or something like that.

272 – Dancing the conference

Mr Argnar of the 1st Army reports. No delays or problems.

Ms Sanatoria of the 2nd Army reports. Tehehe, I’m scheming something. The pattern of having some kind of strategy. Well, whether that strategy is a success or a failure it won’t have a big influence. I guess it’s fine to leave it to chance.

Mr Kogou of the 3rd Army reports. I don’t wanna fight. Stop messing about, snaps Miss Demon King.

Mr Merazofis of the 4th Army reports. Balto-san, please don’t worry. Mera, while you’re saying something or the other, to think you’re worried about the state of your former boss, huh. I’m moved to tears. Yet, it’s the pattern where the former boss thinks that his former subordinate is a weird guy.

Mr Darado of the 5th Army reports. Maou-sama! I shall try my hardest! Ah, yes, yes, do what you can.

Mr Hyuui of the 6th Army reports. I’ll do my best so please don’t kill me, really, truly. He’s seriously nervous about the Demon King. It seems that the spectacle of the Demon King chewing on the boobian’s arm some time ago became a major trauma for him.

Mr Blow of the 7th Army reports. You being the Demon King is some kind of joke, hey! It seems that he’s livid over the overly cruel working conditions of his brother Balto. Yup, feel free to snap. When all’s said and done, while Balto is in the midst of working himself to the bone, the Demon King is just idling around after all. That being said, this isn’t the place to snap though. Read the mood.

The mock-samurai of 5th army and the hoodlum start an argument, then there’s a little incident where the Demon King stops them. Can I go somewhere else already please. I want to return soon and eat delicious food.

I meet oni-kun’s eyes. It seems that oni-kin is also fed up with this arguing back and forth, and he shrugs his shoulders.

That oni-kun reports. No problems. That’s a bit brief, hey.

After I spoke about the things I was hiding, perhaps oni-kun had various kinds of breakthroughs as he became highly active. In using the 8th Army to clean up the surroundings, that is. Various kinds of small scale armed human groups, such as bandits or adventurers, that entered the demon territories were relentlessly disposed of. When doing so, he showed no mercy at all. It was wholesale slaughter. With those excessively cruel actions, it resulted in even his own side becoming afraid of him. All the more so because he treated his soldiers like disposable pawns. It seems that even Balto saw him as a problem. From oni-kun’s point of view, he probably saw it as a form of mercy towards his opponents though, but there’s almost certainly nobody who understood that.

The conference continues, and Mr Kuro of the 9th Army reports. No problems. Yup, if a problem occurred within your army, it would be a global scale crisis after all. If dragons and drakes, and the god commanding them, had a problem that they couldn’t deal with it would be worrying wouldn’t it?

「Then, the report of the 10th Army.」

Whoops! Damn, that means it’s my turn doesn’t it. Calm down, me. It’s alright, me. It’s just a few words, me.

「The 10th Army, no problems.」

Yay! I’ve said it all! I’ve now completed everything that I need to do here! Nobody is going to raise any subject that needs me to respond now, right?

Perhaps my wish was granted, as the conference ended soon afterwards. All that’s needed now is to advance, so I guess it was determined that it was fine for all the commanders to return and give their respective orders? In that regard, it’s nice and smooth compared to modern day Japan with all those excessive meetings eh.

After the conference ended, Kuro left immediately. It was decided that Kuro’s 9th Army would mobilise together with the Demon King’s own directly attached army. Or rather, if they weren’t kept in reserve, it would be bad for the humans. If the war capabilities are too lopsided, the damage to both sides won’t be even. The 9th Army is basically a secret weapon!

「Shiro-san.」

Oni-kun and Mera approach me. Once the war begins we won’t be able to meet so readily anymore, so I guess this is a final greeting. I doubt that oni-kun would die though, and actually even Mera is strong enough to be able to battle a lower ranked dragon by himself so he probably wouldn’t die either, so this isn’t likely to be our final greeting in life.

「Hey, you got business with her?」

The hoodlum blocks the way of oni-kun and Mera. Why?

「She’s about to have a discussion with me now regarding the march. If you don’t have any business with her then don’t take up her time.」

Say what? Isn’t that news to me? Ah, is that why he said “about to” huh. Rather, what’s there to actually talk about? The general outline should have been prepared already by Felmina-chan though.

「Surely just a greeting is fine?」
「Then, you’re already done, right?」

Hoodlum rudely reacts to oni-kun. Why is this guy like this, always stirring up trouble around me. I wish he’d give it a rest.

「There’s not even time for a brief chat huh? My goodness. The 7th Army has surprisingly little leeway in its actions then.」

With those contemptuous seeming words, oni-kun laughs scornfully. The hoodlum grits his teeth to hold in his temper, while Mera restrains oni-kun who seems about to provoke things further.

「Shiro-san, there’s a nuisance here so I guess that’s enough for today.」
「Please take care of ojou-sama.」

While leaving, oni-kun moved to whisper into the hoodlum’s ear, saying “by disregarding the person’s feelings like that, do you think she would ever actually notice you?”…. That was quite acrimonious for oni-kun.

「Let’s go!」

The hoodlum angrily stomps off without even getting my acknowledgement. I don’t know why he doesn’t realise that such selfish actions are why he’s unpopular. My appreciation for him is only dropping further you know.

The discussion afterwards regarding this and that about the march, was a surprisingly proper consultation. When it comes to work it seems that he’s able to be properly focused about it. Well, he’s the younger brother of that Balto, so I guess this much is to be expected.

As a result of the discussion, the 7th Army will be at the forefront and the 10th Army will be responsible for making raids. The hoodlum seems to have decided that the 10th Army doesn’t have proper soldiers, and has mistaken them for special forces who work behind the scenes or something. Well, it’s fine though. Until the Hero appears, I guess I’ll just take the opportunity to relax at the rear then.

Translation notes:

For the main conference, in Shiro’s mind it’s a bit like a formal Japanese business meeting based on the language used.

“do you think she would ever actually notice you” – in a romantic way, by implication.