It must have taken at least an hour for a maid to once more appear and seek me out. Since I was busy training Alpine, she politely placed herself out of the way—that is, barely even within my line of sight.

I looked at her, and she nodded, so I told Alpine to keep training on its own, perhaps asking for help from other monsters around—of course, I made sure no one would bother it—and approached the maid.

Since she told me the children were done eating, I had her guide me to them, since even the production area of the castle was quite vast.

It had been quite a while since my last visit to the production area, so the sight of the place was a little startling. Compared to the bleak, sinister atmosphere of much of the castle, these areas were decorated almost to an obscene degree, and yet in good taste; The decorations ranged from intricate gold-on-red tapestries to gorgeous statues and everything inbetween.

Of course, the fact that anyone I encountered bowed or saluted did not change.

The moment the children came into view, I dismissed the maid and approached them in silence.

They were rather busily looking around, seeming to be amazed by even the slightest detail on everything they could see.

I approached them in silence—or, to put it simply, I snuck up on them, a smirk forming on my face.

“You have seen the treasury and yet you are amazed by something of this level?”

The sounds of a trio of swords clattering on the ground were like music to my ears, and it seemed like the children would jump a metre into the air as they shot into a pair of salutes.

“Mister demon king, you’re here!” Asami said, an obvious excitement to her tone. It seemed she was not fully aware of the rules of my army—it was likely the two of them had learned by imitating, since I could not imagine the head instructor could have squeezed in the time to teach them military etiquette.

“Shh,” Nexu said as he attempted to subtly elbow his sister in her side. Although the subtlety was a complete failure, I was a little impressed he had realised my soldiers were not supposed to speak while saluting.

I waved my hand. The children seemed to understand that meant they could drop their salute. “Pick up your weapons,” I said, snickering. “Let us get you two some more equipment.”

The pitter-patter of their footsteps followed close behind me as I set off towards the forge.

As usual, I opened the doors without touching them.

I made momentary eye contact with a number of the Lizardmen—lizards with the size and approximate shape of humans—stationed at the forge, but it seemed that since they were busy, they only nodded to me before returning to their work.

This could not be helped, so I did not reprimand them.

The only person in the room who did not break my gaze possessed an impassive metal face, steel-grey eyes and a robotic body—the Chief Blacksmith, Rhud.

“My Lord has come to visit,” it said after confirming my face, and it gave a stiff bow—likely the result of a waist that was never intended to bend all that far. It righted itself once more and continued. “Your servant inquires as to the purpose of your visit, My Lord.” I thought I detected a glimmer of hope in its vacant gaze.

I pushed the children forward.

They seemed to pick up on my intentions. “I’m Asami, a new member of mister demon king’s army!” Asami said, a bright smile on her face as she bowed.

“Nexu, also a new member of the demon king’s army,” Nexu said, his ears and tail drooping low. “... And her adoptive brother.” He imitated Asami and bowed, as well.

So they are adoptive siblings.

I was not well-versed in the details of beast-person heredity, so I was not sure if biological relatives could be of different races. I also did not really care.

Half a beat later, Rhud, too, introduced itself, though it seemed to decide a bow was unnecessary.

“With that out of the way,” I said, stepping forward once more, “Rhud, these two are in need of some equipment.”

“Understood. My Lord, please name your requested item.”

I held my hands out to the children. “Well, there appears to be some craftsman out there with the hobby of creating swords without scabbards.”

The children took the hint and handed me their swords.

Rhud’s blank eyes almost seemed to sparkle with a moment of excitement before it spoke. “In other words, your servant is to create receptacles for these weapons?”

I nodded and handed over the swords.

“Then, as for the designs, My Lord?” Rhud asked as it took the swords and looked over them from a few angles.

“I will leave the details up to you. Something practical, but which suits the swords… and which radiates authority. I expect great work from you.”

“Please leave it to your servant, My Lord. Your servant will exert its full capabilities in meeting your expectations. Your servant will make sure the sheaths are finished within twenty-four hours.” It gave another bow, no less stiff than before.

“Do not disappoint me,” I said, turning around and taking the children with me.

Fascinated as they were by everything they saw, the children never seemed to lag more than a few steps behind, and soon we were at our next destination.

Once more, I opened the door in my usual flashy manner. Unlike last time, there were only two demons in the room the door opened into.

“Ah, Lord Astaroth,” the larger of the two said as he noticed me, and his face lit up with apparent excitement. He sat up from his chair, his tall, skinny body even taller than I, and gave a strange sort of half-bow. His clothes were so old it was as though I could see through them—an oversized suit that would make anyone question his fashion sense. From amongst his chaotic, ruffled long hair sprouted a pair of thin, sharp, blade-like horns, roughly the same colour as his pale grey skin, and a long tail with a metallic shine and a rather sharp tip extended from his lower back and wagged back and forth. Almost like a dog’s.

The other demon, rather than words, let out a small squeak. Unlike the first, who seemed unnecessarily big, this one was rather small, instead, to the point where I could pick it up and still see in front of me. If I had to compare it to an animal, my first guess would be a porcupine, although a hedgehog would soon appear in my thoughts as well—well, in short, it looked like a wild animal that happened to have particularly sharp spikes.

I thought I saw its face redden as I stared at it, but I decided to ignore it.

I pushed the children forward, and they once more introduced themselves.

“Grand Couturier, Crowley, at your service,” the tall demon said, this time making a full, elegant bow, hand in front of his chest. The gesture did not at all match his slovenly appearance, so I likely frowned without meaning to. “I’m a rather uncommon species of devil called a Scissor Devil,” he continued, gesturing towards his horns and swishing his tail in front of the children to emphasise his point.

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It was sharp, so I slapped it away.

He looked a little sad.

“And this,” he continued after a moment, “is my dear partner, Amarant.” Amarant let out a little squeak and raised its paw. “Although he cannot speak, he’s a proper demon—to be exact, a Spike Cushion.”

I thought I saw the thing’s face redden further at the word “dear”, and decided anew not to pay it any mind.

It seemed the children took its raised paw as a greeting, because Nexu shyly raised his hand and Asami waved at it.

“Then, Lord Astaroth,” Crowley said, turning to me, “may I inquire as to the purpose of this visit? I never took you for the one to pay visits simply for pleasantries, so… could it be related to these adorable children—ahem, soldiers you have brought me?”

I certainly did visit people just for the sake of it. It just so happened that this list of people was not very large, and Crowley was not on it.

“Indeed, they are the main subject,” I said, nodding. “They require uniforms.”

A few seconds passed in silence.

“But I do not believe we have a uniform, Lord Astaroth…?” Crowley said, tilting his head to the side, seeming more curious than anything else.

If he had taken better care of himself, perhaps it could have looked half cute.

“Indeed,” I said, “the army does not have a uniform. The closest are the maids, and the standard-issue equipment and Living Armours… But I want these two to work as a unit. In addition, as it stands, they are not exactly fit for a battlefield…”

“Certainly, they do not quite look battle-ready…”

«To add,» I said after borrowing a [Telepathy] skill, «simply picture these two, at the bottom of my throne or on the battlefield, with matching uniforms.»

«That would be cute, indeed,» he admitted.

“Very well. I shall do as you command, Lord Astaroth,” he said, nodding.

I raised an eyebrow at his choice of words.

“A-Ah, of course, it’s not like I needed any convincing for that,” he said, turning his gaze to one of the walls.

“Look at me when I talk to you,” I said, shaking my head.

“O, Of course. So then, Lord Astaroth, do you have a particular design in mind?”

I decided to ignore his incredibly forced attempt to change the subject. “Well, not exactly,” I said, “but there are a few sources of inspiration I will have you work off of.”

“Oh?” he said, an odd, intrigued smile on his face. “From the same source as the inspirations for your suit, perhaps? By all means, I’d love to see.”

He stepped around his desk and took a curious step in my direction. I mirrored him and took a step back, and I could almost see the dejection pour off of his face.

I once more borrowed a [Telepathy] skill to send him a few images, along with the words «I am going off of memories, so they might not be entirely accurate.»

“This is…”

Crowley’s face gradually took on some rough mixture of surprise and amazement.

I dodged his hands as he leapt forward and attempted to grab my shoulders.

And again.

And again.

After at least ten seconds of that, I finally opened my mouth.

“Crowley. Stop. On your knees.”

He finally calmed down after the effect of my skill forced him to kneel.

“Rise.”

“I am terribly sorry about that, Lord Astaroth,” he said, bowing. “I’m afraid I got carried away.”

“Do not let it happen again,” I said, knowing with all my heart it would happen again.

“Anyway, Lord Astaroth, may I inquire…”

“Just like the design for my suit, I did not come up with these. They are from my place of origin: that is all.”

“I see,” he said, nodding. He appeared satisfied, but a little extra caution would not hurt.

Just then, I felt a small tug on my cape.

“Mister demon king?”

I turned my attention to Asami.

“What kind of designs did you show Mister Crowley?”

I took a quick glance around the room. It seemed Nexu and Amarant were curious, too.

The clothes’ names would help no one, and I wanted to preserve some sense of mystery for the children, so I decided to explain, instead.

“To put it simply, the uniform of a certain army division from my place of origin, and the uniform of students in a certain part of my place of origin.”

Their eyes, sparkling in admiration, almost stung my heart a little, but in the end, I decided I had no particular qualms with taking credit for another’s work.

“Incidentally, Crowley, you are free to modify the outfits to make them more combat-practical or more intimidating.”

His expression brightened a little, and his tail raised off the floor—and a few moments later, the former turned a little awkward and the latter returned to its resting position.

“Those robes are very nice, and likely very high-quality,” he said, “but I can’t get your measurements that way.”

“... Are you two wearing underwear under those robes?” I asked, more as confirmation than anything else.

The pair of them nodded. Nexu seemed to understand my intentions, so he swiftly took off his robe. Asami followed.

Crowley took what was probably a tape measure off his desk and set to measuring the children’s various sizes.

“Do not forget about the brassards,” I called out as I left the room.