He'd moved a rock, and now he'd been given platinum.
The news spread through the villages in no time. People whispered that perhaps the Demon Lord had been playing some absurd prank. Three days later, a new proclamation appeared on the gates of the Grand Duke's Hall. An outrageous order was posted upon it.
—To whomever returns the rock that Yammer moved three days ago to this spot, three hundred gold coins shall be granted.
This time, the domain residents didn't utter a word of complaint. They immediately charged down the hillside.
"Out of the way, old-timers! You'll snap your backs if you push yourselves!"
"Scram, whippersnappers! I used to heft two or three boulders without breaking a sweat back in my prime!"
People jostled and shoved as they rushed toward the rock. A young man arrived first, but the other residents refused to yield and latched onto the boulder like rabid dogs.
"Hey, I got here first! Why is everyone like this? This is mine, mine!"
"Oh, so it's all 'mine, mine,' is it? Heh heh, the proclamation never said only one person could move it."
"Good heavens! I've never seen such brazen highway robbery in my life!"
The young man was beside himself with indignation. Even a elder well past sixty was huffing aggressively and clinging to the rock.
"You brat. Did you forget the kindness I showed you when you were starving through winter? I was the one who fed you!"
"Ah—no. Why are you bringing that up now?"
"If you drive me away now, the Goddesses will surely be furious with what a shameless wretch you are!"
While the young man hesitated, the rest of the crowd swarmed in.
"Hey! You know my family runs the smithy, right? Try to hog this all by yourself and see what happens. I'll never lend you a single farming tool ever again."
"If you want to be ostracized from the village, go ahead and try to take it alone. Or better yet, leave town and see how far you get by yourself!"
The young man's face fell. There was nothing he could do. Before he knew it, fourteen people were tasked with transporting the rock.
When they placed the boulder back at the gates of the Grand Duke's Hall, sure enough, a security officer ran over and presented the reward. The box truly contained three hundred gold coins. The fourteen domain residents cheered and divided the coins equally among themselves.
Then something peculiar happened. People began lining up in front of the Grand Duke's Hall at all hours, waiting for the proclamation to appear again. The crowd numbered well over a hundred, men and women, young and old alike.
Unfortunately, the proclamation to move the rock never appeared again. The people lamented.
"Ugh... it really was just the Demon Lord's amusement after all..."
"I should have been there!"
But before long, dwarves arrived and began carving the rock.
The domain residents watched curiously as the dwarves worked. Letters were being inscribed upon the stone. The dwarves finished their engravings and departed. The content was as follows:
"Article I. The domain shall be ruled by the lord, its eternal and sovereign ruler."
"Article II. All domain residents shall be equally granted the right to live freely by the lord. So long as the lord's right to rule is not infringed upon, the right of domain residents to live freely and equally shall be upheld."
"Article III. Groups and individuals must, in accordance with the rights granted to them, promote the freedom of domain residents, their property, their safety, and the progress and peace of the world."
Three articles had been carved.
The people recognized them as the newly established laws. And they understood that what the Demon Lord had done was not some absurd jest—it was a deliberate proclamation meant for them to read clearly.
In truth, the so-called new laws contained more articles than that. But Dantalion had decided to imprint only the most important provisions into the minds of the domain residents first.
The rock came to be called "Yammer's Rock."
It was a name Dantalion had given it himself. He then convened the domain residents in the Grand Duke's Hall and addressed them.
"From now on, whenever I wish to issue an order or request your cooperation, I shall post a proclamation in front of Yammer's Rock. For those among you who cannot read, I shall instruct a proxy to read the proclamation aloud."
"But why Yammer's Rock?"
"The person who created these laws is, without question, myself. So why did I not name it Dantalion's Rock, but instead gave this symbolic stone the name of one of you, a domain resident?"
"Domain residents! It is because the ones who must ultimately carry out the law are you yourselves!"
"The right to live freely and equally undeniably originates from me, Dantalion. However, the one who can actually live that free and equal life is not me. Remember this."
"Only you yourselves can live your own lives."
"The lord will never—never—live your life for you! This is just as the Goddesses gave us the gift of life, yet the ones who must actually cultivate that life are yourselves. Put simply, the lord is a mediator between the Goddesses and you."
"Therefore, I call that rock Yammer's. It signifies that these are your laws. Domain residents, keep this in mind as you live."
Of course, this was riddled with trickery.
The most critical deception was that the sovereign was designated not as the entirety of the domain residents, but as one single person—the Demon Lord Dantalion.
Domain residents live freely and equally. Only insofar as they are graciously granted those rights by the lord. This meant the residents were expected to live in perpetual gratitude toward the lord, and—naturally—it guided them into viewing Dantalion as a sacred and inviolable being.
...Why do we live well? Because, of course, we worked hard. But why were we able to work hard in the first place? Because Lord Dantalion graciously granted us the right to live freely. When we prosper, when we enjoy peace, when we exercise our freedom, it is all fundamentally thanks to Lord Dantalion....
It was a grotesque and dangerous line of reasoning.
"Long live Lord Dantalion!"
Yet the residents didn't hesitate to cheer.
After all, the concept of sovereignty was unfamiliar to them. What mattered to them was one thing: that everyone was equal under the lord. No nobles, no slaves—everyone equal!
People who had suffered under the tyranny of the aristocracy simply threw their fervent support behind Dantalion, who had declared that there would be no nobles and no slaves in his domain from now on.
After finishing my speech at the Grand Duke's Hall and returning to the Demon Lord's chamber, I had to quickly slip away because the crowd escorting me kept chanting "Long live!" for quite some time.
Daisy had been at my side throughout, attending to me from start to finish. Once we returned to the Demon Lord's chamber—I had finally completed the teleportation device leading to it and made it back quickly—Daisy spoke quietly.
"This is absurd."
The black-haired girl was glaring at me coldly.
"What's absurd about it?"
"Everything. Everything you told them was deception and falsehood."
"I don't follow."
I smirked. Daisy then continued.
"If no one can live another person's life for them, then that person's right to live naturally belongs to them. You cannot live their lives for them. So how can you claim to 'grant' them the right to live?"
Daisy's voice rose.
"You're violating your own words. It's a contradiction."
"Oh my."
"You merely gathered words that sounded plausible and used them to deceive people."
I lay back on the bed and stretched leisurely.
"Hmm. So what would you have me do?"
"..."
"Our Daisy has become a champion of republicanism without my even noticing. Did Luke's influence rub off on you? Either way, this is my domain and my property. I claim what's mine as mine—where's the contradiction in that? If you want to take what's mine and make it the property of all the domain residents, well then... wouldn't that be precisely the kind of thing the domain residents should rise up and do themselves, rather than something I'd do?"
I never had any intention of building a democratic domain from the start. Why would I bother?
At that moment, the Magic Crystal Orb on the bedside table began to glow.
There were several orbs, but this was the one with a direct connection to Paimon. I quickly got up and activated the orb.
—How are you, Dantalion?
The red-haired, beautiful Demon Lord was projected into the air.
"I'm well. Thanks to you, I'm resting comfortably."
Paimon occasionally reached out like this. It wasn't for anything especially important—just small talk about how the revolutionary struggle was progressing recently, ordinary conversation.
Paimon often confided that revolution was proving harder than expected.
Each time, I smiled kindly and offered Paimon encouragement.
"Lady Paimon, please don't be too disheartened. People are naturally steeped in custom and tend to forget that they are, in fact, free and equal. Overcoming that forgetfulness and spreading a true utopian society across the entire continent... it could hardly be easy, could it?"
Paimon sighed.
—That's true, of course. But still, I can't help but complain...
"The hardships you are enduring now, Lady Paimon, are not struggles for your personal sake—they are burdens you bear on behalf of all humanity and all demonkin alike. The weight of that burden is naturally immense."
—...
"Lady Paimon, stay strong. Even if no one else understands you or slanders you, I alone will support you. Until the day republicanism triumphs."
That was generally how our conversations ended.
Paimon must be suffering too.
There were comrades in the Liberation Alliance, but strictly speaking, they were not equals. Paimon was always their leader. As a leader, one couldn't easily show weakness to subordinates.
And among the other Demon Lords—those of equal standing—there was no one who understood republicanism. I alone was in a position to listen to Paimon's troubles.
Well, personally, I considered it a kind of counseling. A few minutes of chat was enough to maintain my rapport with Paimon. If there was a benefit, so much the better, and there was no loss whatsoever.
When I turned my head, Daisy was staring at me with an oddly vacant expression.
"Hm? Ah, where did I leave off?"
"...Up to the part where you have no intention of recognizing the domain residents' right to freedom."
"Right. If they want their rights, they can stage a revolution or whatever. As if I'd just hand over rights to them out of the goodness of my heart. That's just how the world works."
Daisy suddenly let out a heavy sigh.
"Huh? Where did you learn the etiquette of sighing while someone is talking?"
"No. I just think I was foolish to even bring this up with you."
Daisy spoke self-deprecatingly, looking every bit like a sixty-year-old elder.
"After all, I know full well what kind of person you are, Father."
"No idea what you mean. Either way, you being foolish is a fact."
"Yes. It was all my fault. Truly."
My, my. Since when did Daisy ever honestly admit her own mistakes?
Normally, she was so proud she'd sooner die than acknowledge any fault of her own. Perhaps that was why she looked a little more endearing than usual. I felt in good spirits, so that night I didn't trouble Daisy.
This is why a person must always be truthful to themselves. When you're truthful, how much more pleasant you become to look at!