The Unfortunate Girl Wants an Easy Mode in Her Second Life – Chapter 144

Chapter 144: The Demon King’s Work
ㅤThe Demon King’s work is, surprisingly, quite busy.
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ㅤI’ve left the negotiations with various countries to Boroneal.
ㅤThat’s because Hamilton warned me that if the king moves around too much, it would be looked down upon by other countries.
ㅤ
ㅤHowever, I still receive regular progress reports on the negotiations, and approvals are also necessary.
ㅤSince I’ve given the ancient magic communicators that were stored in the Demon King’s Castle to the key demon tribe members, reports and communications from various places come flooding in without a break.
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ㅤEven so, tasks like negotiating with other countries, which neither Almi nor I are suited for, are okay to completely delegate to subordinates.
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ㅤOn the other hand, there are also tasks that only I can do.
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ㅤOne is to conquer the dungeons in various locations and collect their cores.
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ㅤDungeon cores are crystallized forms of the power of the first Demon King, who was defeated by the Grandmasters.
ㅤCollecting these is absolutely necessary for future plans.
ㅤThe Guardian System, which is under construction as a replacement for the adventurer system created by the Grandmasters, requires an immense amount of power.
ㅤSimultaneously, it removes the dungeon mechanism that supports the adventurer profession.
ㅤBy doing this, the business model of adventurers who earn income by hack-and-slashing in dungeons will become unsustainable, encouraging them to switch to being guardians who protect people from threats.
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ㅤConquering dungeons is, frankly speaking, tough.
ㅤThe adventurers of Hope Village—no, the guardians—are excellent, but they’re not at the level where they can conquer dungeons on their own.
ㅤEven with the dungeon that was in the town of Loft, the adventurers couldn’t even conquer the first floor without me.
ㅤThe guardians of Hope Village could probably delve a fair bit into the Loft dungeon, but it would take time, and I don’t think they could win against the monsters in the deeper layers. Specifically, things like Abyss Worms.
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ㅤIn terms of ability, I think Grunblin, the former Four Heavenly Demon General, could do it.
ㅤBut she’s an amateur when it comes to dungeons.
ㅤThere are also some demon tribe members who were adventurers as a disguise to blend into society. However, since they haven’t been incarnated for very long, their abilities are still somewhat lacking.
ㅤIn the end, when it comes to completely conquering dungeons in the Demon Kingdom, there’s no one else but me who can do it.
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ㅤToday, I used the transfer formation in the Demon King’s Castle to fly to the Southern Continent and secretly conquered a dungeon that was in an inconspicuous location.
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ㅤ”I’m home—”
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ㅤWhen I called out as I entered the shared space with Almi,
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ㅤ”Welcome back, Minato.”
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ㅤAlmi said with a bright smile.
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ㅤ（Ah, so soothing.）
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ㅤSeeing Almi’s carefree expression washes away the frustrations I felt from conquering the dungeon.
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ㅤ”Man, it was rough. It was an abandoned mine that had turned into a dungeon. You had to switch the rail tracks and proceed on a mine cart. I got all the way to the end, but I made a mistake switching the tracks and got sent back to the beginning. I almost lost it.”
ㅤ
ㅤI’m usually quiet and often described as having a faint presence, but when it comes to games, I become a different person.
ㅤWell, dungeon conquering isn’t a game, though.
ㅤ
ㅤ”Good work. Boroneal-san successfully concluded another negotiation. It’s a port town on the Southern Continent that was hostile to Celesta.”
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ㅤ”Ah, that place. It’s good that it worked out.”
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ㅤ”Apparently, a demon who hadn’t pledged allegiance to the Demon Kingdom was hiding in the heart of the town. He said he persuaded that person and pulled some strings from behind the scenes.”
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ㅤ”Boroneal is really something…”
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ㅤAs expected of someone with the moniker “the Schemer.”
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ㅤ”You did tell them about the potential profits from trade and the opening of the Guardian Guild, right?”
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ㅤ”Yeah, apparently they welcomed it. The nearby dungeon was conquered by someone, and the adventurers moved to other towns, so they were in trouble.”
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ㅤAlmi grinned mischievously.
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ㅤ”So my hard work paid off. I feel a bit resistant to taking away the adventurers’ jobs, though.”
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ㅤ”When adventurers gather because of a dungeon, the town becomes lively, but on the other hand, public order deteriorates. So, as a port town that thrives on trade, adventurers weren’t necessarily welcomed.”
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ㅤ”I see. There’s that side to it too.”
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ㅤIn a port town like Celesta, there’s a certain demand for adventurers because they need to transport goods across the monster-infested desert.
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ㅤHowever, this is also a job that guardians can handle.
ㅤRather, guardians, who specialize in protecting people, are better suited for escorting merchant caravans.
ㅤThe Guardian Guild that we established in Celesta is gradually gaining members, and their reputation is excellent, being considered better behaved than adventurers.
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ㅤ”Speaking of which, I also went to a beastmen settlement on the Southern Continent.”
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ㅤI said.
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ㅤ”How was it?”
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ㅤ”I ended up having a sumo wrestling match with a female panda beastman warrior…”
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ㅤAlthough few in number, there are beastmen and magical beasts in the world who have survived without being turned into monsters.
ㅤHuman adventurers lump them all together as monsters, but some of them possess high intelligence.
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ㅤWell, intelligence comes in various forms, and the panda beastmen were a muscle-brained group who thought, “We don’t understand difficult things. If you want to be our friend, show us your strength!”
ㅤI should have left it to Grunblin.
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ㅤ”I imagine it’ll be tough to persuade dragons and spirit beasts too.”
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ㅤ”Hmph, you little human girl, leave while I’m still in a good mood!” That kind of scenario comes to mind.
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ㅤI also want to persuade the spirits like gnomes and undines, and the elves.
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ㅤ”Once things calm down a bit, I want to try and recruit the Dream Weaver and Bearnov.”
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ㅤI have to go and persuade them myself.
ㅤSince I only have one body, it’s been put on the back burner.
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ㅤ”The troublesome ones will probably be the elves. The Grandmasters reshaped this world so that human adventurers would be the main players.
ㅤAt that time, many magical beasts and beastmen were turned into monsters, and the demon tribe was driven into the Netherworld.
ㅤBut the elves were an exception.”
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ㅤ”Why were the elves an exception?”
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ㅤAlmi asked.
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ㅤ”Because they’re good supporting characters for the adventure, I guess.”
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ㅤAlmi, who doesn’t know about Earth’s subculture, probably wouldn’t understand that kind of sentiment.
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ㅤ”When I was conquering the Loft dungeon, I met an elf magician named Arne-san. I guess I’ll have to start by contacting her.”
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ㅤShe, with her pinkish-blond hair in twintails, taught me the basics of being a magician.
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ㅤ”Arne-san is a good person, but the other elves might oppose dismantling the Grandmaster System. They’re the current beneficiaries of the status quo.”
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ㅤElves are generally known for being rule-oriented and cold to outsiders.
ㅤThis isn’t just my prejudice; it seems to be common knowledge in this world.
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ㅤ”Even if we do all that, the power of the Demon Kingdom won’t reach that of the first Demon King. The Guardian System might not be able to cover as wide a range as the Grandmaster System.”
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ㅤEven if we collect the cores from dungeons, the amount of power stored in the cores is less than the power of the Demon King they originated from.
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ㅤ”That’s why what Minato calls 『modern knowledge cheat』 is important, right?”
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ㅤ”Yeah. But it’s not going very well. The knowledge that Elminarsh possesses is from when the first Demon King had omnipotent, god-like power. Basically, it’s based on the idea of using magic to forcefully bring about desired events.”
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ㅤThe lost technology left in the Demon King’s Castle is also based on the Demon King’s power, not science. However, now that the Demon King’s power is dispersed, forcefully altering events is difficult.
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ㅤ”Even if I’m someone from another world… I was just a high school student.”
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ㅤI can use a computer, but I don’t have the knowledge to build one from scratch. I can’t make cars, airplanes, or refrigerators either.
ㅤMoreover, I don’t even know how to cook the vegetables and meat I eat deliciously.
ㅤIt makes me acutely aware of how ignorant I was.
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ㅤ”It would be great if I could go back to Earth and search the internet or buy books…”
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ㅤI muttered with a sigh.
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ㅤThen, Elminarsh suddenly interjected.
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ㅤ『It’s not impossible, depending on the method.』
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ㅤ”Eh, really?”
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ㅤ『Indeed. Reincarnating you like God did would be difficult, but it would be possible to create a receptacle on the other side and send Minato’s consciousness there.』
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ㅤ”A receptacle?”
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ㅤ『We will gather Ether and create a body. We will connect that body to Minato’s consciousness. It will consume a considerable amount of the Demon King’s Castle’s resources, but you will be able to 『stay』 on the other side for a few days.』
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ㅤIt’s like an application of the method Almi used to incarnate on the surface by creating a body with Ether.
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ㅤ”Will God notice?”
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ㅤ『Including that, it will be a few days.』
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ㅤ”But wouldn’t it be difficult to bring back the knowledge from the other side? There’s a limit to how much knowledge I can cram in a few days.”
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ㅤ『We can connect the knowledge on the other side to the Elminarsh System in the same way we connect Minato’s consciousness. You mentioned that there is a large-scale information infrastructure there, correct?』
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ㅤ”The internet. You mean connecting Elminarsh to the internet? Then wouldn’t there be no need for me to go over there?”
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ㅤ『No, the initial connection needs to be done by Minato. The process is no different from contacting another consciousness in the Netherworld.』
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ㅤ”Ah, like when I went to see Imsoda with the Dream Weaver’s power.”
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ㅤ『I have no idea how much knowledge can be obtained. The connection will require a considerable amount of the Demon King’s Castle’s resources. Only Minato can judge whether it’s worth the cost.』
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ㅤ”Wow, that’s a lot of responsibility. By the way, how many resources will be needed?”
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ㅤ『About this much.』
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ㅤElminarsh displayed glowing letters on the wall.
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ㅤ”Well, it’s manageable, I guess.”
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ㅤI muttered, resting my chin on my hand.
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ㅤ”So, are you really going?”
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ㅤAlmi asked.
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ㅤ”Yeah, I’ll try going once I’ve finished the tasks I’m currently working on.
ㅤ…Although I’m not really looking forward to it.”
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ㅤI wonder how the father who killed me is doing.
ㅤWas he caught, or did he commit suicide before that?
ㅤSince he killed my mother, the police officer, and me, even if he was caught, there’s a possibility that he’s already been executed.
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ㅤ（That’s not all, is it?）
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ㅤHow is my incident being perceived by the public and the school?
ㅤI thought it was no longer relevant to me, but now that I can go back, I’m a little curious.
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ㅤ（You could choose to remain ignorant, but considering this might be your last chance…）
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ㅤEven if I become curious later, I might not be able to go back.
ㅤCan I say with absolute certainty that I won’t regret the decision to remain ignorant?
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ㅤ”Minato… if you’re not looking forward to it, you don’t have to force yourself, okay?”
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ㅤAlmi said with concern.
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ㅤ”Ahaha… well, I think it’ll be fine. I’ll just connect Elminarsh to the internet, wander around a bit, and come back.”
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ㅤSwallowing my hesitation, I said so.