Chapter 264: So, Who is On Top?(1)
Let’s examine what the ranking within Dantalian’s army is like.
Three years have passed since the construction on my dungeon had started. The first floor, first-floor basement, second-floor basement, and third-floor basement had been perfectly built. The rest was still slowly being constructed as well. Even now, numerous goblins and dwarves were wandering around the dungeon non-stop with their tools.
Among all the floors that were being built, the tenth-floor basement was created early and this was where the key members of Dantalian’s army resided.
In other words, people who were lodging in the tenth-floor basement were executives within our army.
The person upying the very highest position within Dantalian’s army was obviously me, Dantalian.
“Father, I brewed some tea.”
The office created on the tenth-floor basement. Daisy approached while I was seated here and reading documents. She put down the tea. A thin strand of steam rose up from the teacup.
“Thanks.”
I gave her a nod.
“So what poison did you put in this time?”
“I put in a poison that will melt your bones if you take it consistently for 200 years.”
Daisy answered nonchntly.
“I was able to satisfy the conditions of the poison having no color, no taste, and no smell, just as Jeremi instructed. I am proud of my work.”
“Good job. Now go make the tea again.”
“Yes, Father.”
Daisy took the tea away.
Daisy became 14 years oldst month. Back when she was 10, she was a child who acted rather murderous despite being a kid. After bing 14, she gave off a young but charming atmosphere, so she grew up to be a venomous snake filled with a corrupt charm.
“Are you not going to punish her?”
Lapis, who was looking at documents across from me, asked.
“She tried to poison you. It would only be natural to give her someshings.”
“Calm down. That was already the seventy-fourth time that brat tried to poison me.”
She had to resort to using a poison that didn’t work unless taken for 200 straight years because of the ve seal on her heart. Honestly, you couldn’t really call this an attempt at poisoning me. How sad.
“She’s someone who’ll keep behaving like that her entire life, so just ignore it.”
“Understood.”
Lapis nodded impassively.
She didn’t offer any sort of objection to my words and went back to working on the documents in front of her. Lapis was wearing her suit as usual and her side-braided pink hair covered the chest area of her suit.
Lapis Lazuli held the 2nd ranked position in Dantalian’s army.
She was in charge of domestic affairs. The domestic affairs department of my army had almost too much authority. Not only did they direct the public order of my Demon Lord Castle and territory, but they were responsible for the prison and half the administration of my entire territory.
It was a monstrous amalgamation of the administration, the police, and the intelligence agency fused into one.
Lapis Lazuli, who had the top position of this department, was……mm, she was like the prime minister, the policemissioner, and the chief of state affairs all at once. She really has a huge position if you put it into perspective like this.
Oh right, Lapis was the hobu and gongbu. In other words, she also had the lead position in the finance and construction departments. Basically, adding minister of finances and construction to her already spectacr list of other positions. The day she revolts is the day Dantalian’s army falls into ruin.
Haha.
“Sir Dantalian, please approve this document.”
“Okay, sure. I know that we have a lot of piled-up documents, but is there a need for us to work together at the same desk?”
“There is.”
Lapis immediately answered without any hesitation.
“The papers have piled up because you went around ying with Miss Laura. It would be a problem if you did not take care of them quickly.”
“But there is still the weekend…….”
“I heard that you have an appointment with Her Highness Barbatos this weekend.”
I might have been feeling things, but Lapis’ gaze felt cold.
“If this is dyed until then, then, at that time, you will definitely make an excuse saying that you cannot work since Her Highness Barbatos hase to visit. It is obvious.”
“You saw through my perfect n……!?”
A shiver ran down my spine like when you would climax. This was impossible. In terms of scheming, I was confident to not lose to anyone in the entire continent, but I was seen through by a mere low-ranking subus.
“How many years does Your Highness think I have been with you? You cannot run away this time. Please give up.”
“Only four days have passed since we captured Heidelberg……hgh, I wanted to y…….”
I read the documents while tearing up.
Well, Lapis was no different from the founding contributor. She’s the only person I don’t exert myself to. Without Lapis, I wouldn’t have been able to make it big with the ck herbs and Operation Minerva wouldn’t have seeded.
If Laura messes with me, then I just have to vite her for two days straight. If Daisy messed with me, then I just have to give her a slow education session all night. However, if Lapis gets upset, then it’s game over. I have to grovel and beg for forgiveness.
“Hoo.”
A sigh came from underneath the desk.
“Lord, this is the fourth time already.”
It was Laura. She was caressing my member with her mouth while crouched under the table. The reason why a shiver went down my spine earlier like I was climaxing was due to the fact that I actually was. Laura had let out a sigh after swallowing everything I had let out.
“I want to go back to my room and read the new philosophy book by Antoine Arnault I got…….”
“You cannot. If you leave, then I would end up having to work on these documents without anything else to do. Please keep it up until I at least finish these documents.”
“……Big sister Lapis, how much longer is there left until His Lordship finishes all the documents?”
I wonder, Lapis responded.
“It will require at least 5 more hours.”
“Are you telling me to perform fetio for 5 hours straight!?”
Laura looked like she was about to cry.
“Your Lordship probably is not aware of this, but this is rather hard on the jaw! Your Lordship is pointlessly big down here, so it is difficult to get my entire mouth around it.”
“Ah, ah. Wait a second. Don’t hit it with your finger. It is sensitive since I just came.”
Laura de Farnese, she held the 3rd position in Dantalian’s army.
She was in charge of military affairs. It would probably be easy to call her the Minister of National Defense, but she had a bit more authority than that. This was because she was in charge of the military government, militarymand, and all of the operations.
All of the monsters living in the dungeon had to listen to Laura’s orders. If they didn’t, then Laura had the right to punish them immediately without my permission.
Laura is actually dense at times, but she was merciless when she carried out military affairs. Every month, at least two or three monsters would always get executed for not listening to orders. The monsters that live in my dungeon were probably more afraid of Laura than me.
“It was this youngdy who captured Heidelberg, not Your Lordship! I should naturally be given a vacation and it does not make sense that I have to serve Your Lordship for 5 hours……. This is unfair!”
“Did you only realize this now? The world has always been unfair. If you do not like it, then be a Demon Lord yourself.”
“Uugh……!”
With tears in her eyes, Laura began to service my member with her mouth again. Mm, a pleasant warmth enveloped my lower body. I hummed as I read the documents in front of me.
Up to this point were the highest executives of Dantalian’s Demon Lord Army.
Next in line was Parsi at rank 4. He handled territorial affairs outside the Demon Lord Castle. He had the administration right and the right of taxation over thend. Laura was the scariest individual to the monsters while Parsi was the scariest individual to the humans.
Below him was Jeremi at rank 5. She was the civil militia leader under themand of the Ministry of Home Affairs. She was the one who actually managed public order and the prison in Lapis’ stead. By managing the prison, I mean that Jeremi has the authority to burn and disembowel prisoners.
And Daisy was 6th in rank. She was my personal secretary and the head maid.
My cute spirits and a ratherrge number of monsters worked as servants in my Demon Lord Castle. Daisy was in charge of directing them. Furthermore, it was Daisy’s job to deliver my words to the people of mynd. You could call her the closest aide among aides.
“I brewed another cup of tea.”
“Wee back. What poison did you put in it this time?”
“A poison that makes your intestines rot if you take it consistently for 300 years.”
“Go brew another cup.”
“Yes, Father.”
Although I had a problem where my closest aide would try to assassinate me at every opportunity.
There was no need to list the rest. Each vige chief and the high-ranking monsters in the boss rooms of every floor would probably be considered 7th. It wasn’t only one or two people.
Referentially, Daisy’s brother, Luka, is the vice-captain of the civil militia. He’s working hard to train under Jeremi. If I were to give him a rank, then he’d be at 15. I wonder how it feels to be so far below his own little sister.
To sum it up briefly:
Dantalian > Lapis > Laura >>> Parsi > Jeremi > Daisy >>> Each vige chief + high-ranking monsters.
This was the official ranking.
However, if you dive deeper into it, then it besplicated.
“Dantalian!”
Someone kicked the door to my office open. I raised my head to see Barbatos huffing with her white hair fluttering behind her. Once the high-ranking Demon Lord made her appearance, Lapis immediately got up and prostrated on the ground.
I furrowed my brows.
“Hey. Is this your living room? If you’re going to visit, then you should’ve sent a servant here first to notify us.”
“You son of a bitch. We promised to meet at Vindobona this morning, but what? A servant? Is that thing on your shoulders a head or a bucket!?”
“Huh?”
I was surprised.
“Was today the promised day? Wasn’t it tomorrow?”
“You bitch!”
Barbatos clenched her teeth. Her rough breathing made it clear that she was firmly upset.
“I was wondering when you’d arrive, but you dared to stand me up and leave me waiting until the evening?”
“W-Wait. I really thought it was tomorrow! My aide definitely said that my appointment with you was tomorrow!”
I turned pale as I looked at Daisy.
“I do not know what you are saying, Father. I wrote down what you told me in the notebook.”
Daisy responded tly.
But I noticed it. The ends of her lips went up very slightly by approximately 3mm. Daisy’s eyes were sparkling like a schemer who had managed to pull off their n.
“You!?”
“I was already upset that you went around ying with Paimon, but what? You stand me up? Dantalian, you son of a bitch, you must have quite the balls of steel.”
Barbatos’s right hand glowed with a ck mana. A whip appeared. Barbatos gripped the whip and approached me. I trembled in fear.
This was the sad truth. No matter how much you talk about the ranking within Dantalian’s army……Barbatos was always on top. The difference in power was already ‘Barbatos >>>>>> Dantalian’, so what could I possibly do?
I desperately looked at my vassals around me. Help me!
“…….”
“…….”
No one met my gaze. How could this be? Are you telling me that all of my loyal retainers have died? Is there not a single person loyal enough to sacrifice themselves for me when their lord is about to die?
“Hm. Sister Barbatos is here.”
At that moment, Laura crawled out from under the table.
Barbatos looked at Laura and paused.
“……Laura? Why were you down there?”
“His Lordship made me perform fetio on him, so I was a bit busy. More importantly, Sister Barbatos, thest time we were together, you promised to be together the next day, but why did you disappear the next morning?”
“Oh. T-That’s.”
Barbatos stammered. Her vigor disappeared without a trace as she started to sweat.
“Something happened in Vindobona all of a sudden, so I had to take care of it.”
“Does a promise between us only have that much value? This youngdy was excited to be able to spend the morning with you……. It seems you were not too happy about it.”
“N-No! That’s not it!”
Barbatos quickly unsummoned her whip as she rushed to Laura.
That’s right.
Surprisingly, even though the hierarchy of ‘Barbatos >>>>>> Dantalian’ exists, the hierarchy of ‘Laura > Barbatos’ also exists.
***
TL Note: Thanks for reading the chapter. This is a pretty fun casual chapter with banter. We finally see what sort of rtionship Laura has with Barbatos after that one chapter where Laura decided to pursue her. Laura is pretty terrifying.
On another note, I think I’m fine. I still haven’t shown any symptoms yet, so I think I can confidently say that I don’t have covid. My mom has been staying at a friend’s ce this entire time because she said it’s practically an empty house, so she doesn’t have to worry about infecting others. She sounded like she was getting better thest time I called her, so I think everything is okay now? She just needs to rest for a couple more days.
Welp, I’ll see you guys in the next chapter.