Favors are hard to repay, and Ira knows this very well. Usually, he would make promises like "I owe you a favor" rather reservedly, even though the monsters' help to him certainly deserved one.
They should have been enemies, even his father's killers...
So Ira didn't really care about Vera's words about using up that favor right now.
"Can you represent the Demon King's Castle?"
As he asked this, Ira looked at Vera suspiciously. He was undoubtedly asking whether the others in the Demon King's Castle knew that Vera had used someone else's favor.
"Huh? Aren't we supposed to each do one favor?"
"..."
Are you dreaming?
Seeing that Ira was clearly expressing this meaning, Vera chuckled lightly, only joking. She didn't immediately say what she hoped Ira would do, but instead changed the subject: "What do you think of the Demon King?"
"See with your eyes."
“I’m asking seriously.”
"I'm answering seriously too."
"..."
Seeing Vera's speechless expression, Ira stood on the platform with her arms crossed and began to answer seriously: "She's very weak, isn't she... Of all the kings I know, she is the weakest."
“Satan Ye doesn’t hate me, even though I killed the former Demon King, even though I used her race as a stepping stone to become a recognized powerhouse, even though the Empire can only think of me when it mentions the Crimson Dragon and doesn’t think of her or the former Demon King.”
Seeing Ira's assessment, Vera had to admit that Ira was right. She added, "Moreover, they lack their own opinions and their ideas are easily swayed by the persuasion of their confidants. Their strength can be improved through training, but their character is difficult to correct."
Aren't you one of the Demon King's people? Is it okay to criticize your boss like this?
"Don't forget, I used to be the same as you, the Imperial Tutor. We had similar ideas, which is why we were able to raise Isabella like that, and raise that qualified and rational king."
As Vera spoke, she shook her head with a sigh, saying, "Following the king's etiquette and doing what a king should do, it's so different from when we first met her. Is this really a good thing?"
Because of Vera's words, Isabella also recalled the time when she first became a confidante of the late King Uther... Back then, Isabella was still a child who would muster up the courage to ask, "Please teach me how to become a qualified king."
Perhaps it was Ira's rationality and Vera's rationality that cleansed away the sensibility that should have been passed down to Youse.
"Are you saying there's a problem with our educational philosophy?"
Having never considered this point, Ira countered with the question, then paused to think before saying, "However, my... or rather, our education of Isabella, is very reasonable and correct, if..."
Vera nodded, adding, "If you hadn't left."
That's true...
Well, the most suitable king for the empire is a dictator, as Uther has already proven, but Isabella can't be a dictator... her talent in the profession is rather average.
One's own strength is the key to ruling this world, so it cannot be judged by the same standards as the world that Iraq once existed.
Therefore, Ira was very worried that after he left, Isabella would still be able to keep her people in check...
He wasn't too worried about the nobles.
"I've never asked you before, why did you become a lich?"
Ira asked Vera, who looked to be about twenty-five or twenty-six years old, a woman who looked young but had no trace of naivety, "Do you have an incurable disease?"
Because spellcasters inevitably overdraw their bodies to extract mana, the rate of illness is very high. Many spellcasters who contract incurable diseases then want to take a gamble and become liches.
The lich's body is inherently "dead," so any illness doesn't matter; at worst, it can be surgically removed and replaced.
How old are you?
Ira frowned, not quite understanding why Vera asked that question. He didn't mind people asking his age and replied casually, "Over sixty. Why are you asking?"
“I’m over two hundred years old… In the year I turned two hundred, I discovered the marks of a demon on my face.”
Demonic markings? Many demons do indeed display markings on their faces due to curses, and many half-demons with demonic bloodlines will also develop demonic markings on their bodies after a certain age.
Since you can't accept it, are you simply going to turn into a monster outright?
"Are you a half-demon?"
"ah?"
The two, whose topics were not aligned, looked at each other in confusion. Finally, Vera cleared Ira's mind first, and she chuckled as she retracted her thoughts: "Oh dear, no... what I'm talking about, the 'devil's markings,' is also called 'wrinkles' by some people."
"Are you crazy? Anyone with a normal brain would call it wrinkles."
Ira cursed sharply, then impatiently prepared to leave, saying, "To put it bluntly, isn't it just about liking youth and beautiful bodies? If you don't have anything important to do, I'm going to the elves."
Vera, who had been gossiping, finally got down to business. She interrupted Ira, saying, "Wait, wait, wait~ I mean, shouldn't we do what many nobles do?"
Seeing Ira's puzzled expression, Vera coughed lightly and explained, "Many nobles have many children, but titles and territories are usually only passed down to one of them, right? If one of them doesn't satisfy the nobles, they will raise another."
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