(EP-23.1) Angmar #3
023 – Peaceful Angmar #3
“Hiiek…!”
The Imp Marmar constantly cackled like some sick chicken as she entered the palace.
Her gaze hardly stayed in one place. Her limbs trembled and her tail swayed from side to side like a windshield wiper.
“I’m in the Witch Queen’s Palace…!”
Marmar seemed terrified of Aira’s existence.
“Help me, this is scary! Get me out of here! She’s definitely going to peel my skin off! She’ll use my tail as a wand!”
To this, Aira said.
“You don’t have to be afraid of your Queen. Instead, you should learn to respect and love her. Also, I don’t need wands.”
This appeared to be the case.
I wondered what to do if Aira got angry at the Imp’s rude attitude and flattened her head.
Fortunately, neither the Imp Marmar nor Aira exchanged any more words. In the case of Aira, I think it was because she lacked the interest.
“I’ll give you a break, Theo, but rest in the palace. Don’t go back to your scorpion-infested house.”
“Yes, I’m also going to educate this friend a little.”
“Indeed, I think it is a little stupid.”
Being called stupid by Aira, the Imp’s frightened look turned unsightly.
“Bye.”
After a brief farewell, Aira entered her quarter.
All that was left was me and the trembling Imp Marmar.
What should I do with her?
Twelve gold coins was a lot of money for me too.
One gold coin could buy 12 people, so she should at least be able to handle twelve times the amount of work to be worth the money.
Her intelligence might be quite high, but her strength seemed lacking, so it was difficult to make her do physical labor.
Would she be good at things like paperwork?
I asked Marmar, who was constantly checking if Aira had finally disappeared.
“Is there anything you are good at?”
“Imps are good at anything! Angmar-nim created us after all! Anyway, is the Queen really gone?”
“Yes, now follow me, I’ll show you what you need to do.”
I then went to my office.
There were all kinds of documents, including the ones I had piled up, scattered all over the place.
“Ok. First, can you sort the documents here by color?”
“That’s easy! But, you need to know that even if I do what you say now, I will never become your slave!”
Exclaiming confidently, Marmar began to organize the documents. I was surprised that she was doing better than expected.
However, it seemed that I was not the only one surprised.
“The Slave Rights Promotion Act, the Lost Monsters Allotment Employment Act. Why are these types of documents here? Are you really Theo?”
“Yeah, didn’t I tell you?”
The Imp looked at the drafts of the bills I had written and quivered.
Seeing her body trembling continuously, I feared that she would just start peeing.
Was hygiene in the instruction manual that I received from the ’Torch Legion’ earlier?
All of a sudden, I got very nervous. As I was digging through my pockets, the Imp raised her hands high and shouted loudly.
“Oh my God! It’s such an honor to meet you, Mr. Theo Gospel! So you are the creator of these wonderful laws and ordinances! They are great!”
I felt a little hard to adapt to the sudden change in the atmosphere. Marmar reminded me of the Nymph Bionoi.
“The Slave Abuse Prevention Act is wonderful!”
“Really? Thank you for the compliment.”
“Of course, there are some things that need to be fixed or tweaked. For example, the name ‘slave’ is a bit out of date. It’s not an accurate label.”
Marmar then continued to express her opinions.
Instead of ‘slave’, we should use ‘labor assistant’. There was also the introduction of some kind of severance pay system in which a certain amount of money would be given to those who quit after working for a long period of time.
I didn’t know if I should call these clever or unusual…
“Okay, the paperwork is done!”
She really seemed skillful at this work.
Since I had a helper, the job was finished quickly.
The term ‘labor assistant’ might be appropriate after all.
After work was over, I decided to ask Marmar some questions.
“I have a question about the Imp Race. Are all Imps interested in things such as laws or rights like you?”
“Mostly! We’re different from the Nymphs who don’t work and just play while living on government subsidies or relief funds. Each of the Imp Sisters has different interests, but in general, we value work.”
“Eum…”
“Some conspiracy theorists say that we Imps descended from Nymphs. That’s absurd! Imps were specifically created by Angmar-nim!”
“Oh…”
I opened the dictionary and received the answers.
This was an encyclopedia created by a wise man called Pacurites. It was a treasure trove of common sense and knowledge needed to live in this world.
The section for Imps read.
「Imp: Noisy little devils. They deceive people with all sorts of clever remarks and tricks. They originate from Nymphs, the nature fairies which Demon King Angmar modified.」
‘I see’.
「As beings that originated from Nymphs, they don’t cause much harm to people.
Rather like Nymphs; their hair, nails, body fluids, etc., are used as precious magic materials. A wand made from an Imp’s tail is also a very expensive tool.
Although Nymphs are legally protected, Imps, who have become objects of evil, aren’t.
As a result, at the time of writing this article, they have been overhunted and are classified as an endangered species.」
‘Aha’.
So they were like the dark evolution of a Nymph.
“Also, I can feel a strange energy from you! It’s the same energy as my sisters.”
“Hmm? Maybe it’s because I’m a Half-Nymph.”
“A Half-Nymph!?”
Marmar shouted in surprise.
“Such a strange race!”
‘I don’t think you should say that to your boss’, I wanted to retort, but held it in.
“Anyways, it’s an honor to meet you, comrade Theo Gospel! How lucky I am to have met an impeccably righteous person like you in this godforsaken palace!”
“Comrade…? Well… Sure. But what do you mean by ‘impeccably righteous’?”
“Literally! You have an impeccable image!”
“You mean ‘politically good’?”
“Yeah, you can say that. Politics is another name for Imps.”
Alright then…
In my head, I quickly added another entry about Imps.
Imps, the sister race of Nymphs, weren’t as smart as I thought.
Anyway.
Regarding my new, unintentionally acquired slave…, no, labor assistant, I was happy that she didn’t hate me.
On the contrary, she even seemed to be fond of me.
Someone who liked my ideas and not my money, power or status?
Although small, I did feel rewarded in a way. Especially when the work I had done was being praised.
Because it meant that the things I did were not for naught!.
Edited by: faker
[T/N: join the dɨşçöŕd (here) for spoilers, illustrations, discussions and more]
