The reincarnated mid-boss welcomes the protagonist with a level of 999 ~ It seems the hero is mistaken about having a max level of 99 ~

Episode 2: The Hero and the Demon Duke

~~Hero’s Perspective~~

My name is Cea.
I’m 10 years old.
I’m a descendant of the hero.
With my power, I defeated the demon duke Gozack.
A wave of light emitted from my hand, disintegrating the monsters.
With that power, the ground ruptured, and the mountains partially collapsed.
It’s the tremendous power of a hero.
The villagers praised me and breathed a sigh of relief.
The vanished demon duke brought it upon himself.
After all, he attacked this village to gather slaves.
His upper body was blown away by my power.
Hehehe. It feels good.
Evil deserves to die.
Evil must be eradicated.
“Wow, thanks to Cea, this village is saved! Thank you so much!”
We’re currently in the midst of a feast. The villagers are treating me to a meal.
“Cea inherited the blood of his deceased father.”
My father was killed by the demon king.
In this world ruled by the demon king, monsters proliferate, and the demons dominate humans.
This world sucks.
I have to change the world.
“This village is safe because of Cea!!”
“That’s right. Cea is amazing!”
“Awesome, Cea!”
“Here, let’s toast with grape juice. Drink up, drink up! Hahaha!”
Oh boy.
I have to say this much.
“Everyone… You all casually call me by my first name, but remember, I saved all your lives, didn’t I?”
The place fell silent.
“And from now on, I’ll protect everyone’s lives. It’s not good to address someone who does that so casually.”
“W-What are you saying, Cea… Aren’t you still just 10 years old?”
“Huh? You were saved by a kid like me, right? If I hadn’t defeated Gozack, you would all have become slaves, wouldn’t you?”
“Well… that’s true, but…”
“I’ll be bestowed the title of hero by the king in five years. Until then, I’ll protect this village. But it’s fine if you want me to leave now.”
Everyone fell silent.
“Please be mindful of how you treat me. I am a hero, after all.”

Then, the villagers chuckled.
“Hehehe. Sorry about that, Mr. Cea.”
Oh boy.
Huh?
This grape juice…
There’s a single strand of hair floating in it.
“Who put this juice here?”
It was the village girl.
“I-I did…”
“There’s hair in it. What if I get sick from drinking this?”
“I-I’m sorry. I’ll replace it right away.”
“Yeah. An apology won’t fix it. I’m a future hero, you know? You should be more careful with me.”
“W-What can I do to make you forgive me?”
“Hmm… How about kneeling? You’ll have to apologize with your entire life.”
The girl bowed her head to the ground.
“I’m sorry.”
Seeing this, murmurs of “that’s awful” and “you don’t have to go that far” could be heard from the villagers.
“If you have a problem, you can come forward and speak to me. After all, I’m your benefactor. I want you to realize your position.”
They’re really selfish villagers.
“Don’t make me too angry. I’ll really leave. If that happens, this village will become part of the demon duke’s territory. Remember that.”
Oh boy.
Being a hero is tough.
Protecting the lives of foolish villagers is natural. But I also have to educate them.

☆
~~Demon Duke Zaus’s Perspective~~

I inherited my father’s title.
Since I have no family, I am the master of the Demon Duke Castle.
I will be killed by the hero in 5 years.
I have to become stronger in these 5 years.
If I defeat the hero with overwhelming strength, there won’t be any problems.
First, I need to strengthen my forces.
I have to train my monster subordinates and level them up.
The problem arose on the first day.
The goblin, injured from training, came to apologize to me.

“I-I’m sorry, Lord Zaus! This wound isn’t much for a goblin. P-Please, p-please, spare my life!!”

Come to think of it, my father, Gozack, who was once the Demon Duke, used to kill injured soldiers, considering them a liability.

As a child, I didn’t voice my opinion, but now things are different.

Reducing soldiers is the height of folly.

Diminished military strength allows the hero’s advance.

“What about the medical unit?”

“Huh? Injured soldiers are disposed of… Th-There’s no medical unit, gob.”

Oh boy.

“Sorcerer goblins can use healing magic. Form a medical unit and treat the injured.”

“Y-Yes…”

“What’s with that puzzled look?”

“A-Are you… not going to kill us, gob?”

“Huh? Why would I do that? You’re valuable assets.”

“V-Valuable… As… assets??”

“Yeah. You guys are valuable assets in the fight against the hero.”

“Wha-wha-wha-wha-wha! Gobbbuuu!!”

“What’s wrong? Are your wounds hurting?”

“G-Gozack-sama treated us like trash! Calling us valuable assets is… such an honor, gob!”

Oh boy.

I only care about saving my own skin.

Healing their wounds is also for my benefit.

It’s all to avoid the bad ending of being defeated by the hero.

The goblin’s training was supervised by the Goblin Leader.

The soldiers were panting and swinging their clubs.

I wonder what the training schedule looks like?

I widened my eyes as I looked at the list made by Gozack.

“What’s this? There’s no break time!?”

Then, the Goblin Leader blinked as if it were obvious.

“T-There’s no break time, gob. Gozack-sama ordered us strictly to train without sparing sleep, gob!”

Oh dear.

What inefficiency.

“Adequate breaks are optimal for skill improvement. From now on, take a 10-minute break every 3 hours.”

“I-Is that much, gob!?”

“Hydration is also important.”

“C-Can we drink water, gob?”

It’s pointless if you collapse from heatstroke.

The meals are terrible too.

“Is it only one meal a day?”

“Y-Yes, gob. That’s normal, gob.”

Geez.

With this training schedule, our military strength will diminish, and we’ll be defeated by the hero.

“Muscles won’t develop like this. From now on, three proper meals a day, breakfast, lunch, and dinner!”

“Eeeeeeeeeeeeee gobbbuuuuu!!”

Hehehe.

I won’t go easy on you!

Be prepared.

I’ll train and train and train you to the max!!

If you want to curse, curse your fate as monsters.

I couldn’t care less about you.

It’s all for my own survival.