Chapter 167: A Time When Many Are Weary (3)
In the training ground, just as he'd seen a moment ago, the Mad Dog Knight Order, Deon Hart, and Ed were all present.
Deon, who had been thoroughly chewing out the knights, spotted Dan approaching from a distance and dismissed Ed with a gesture.
Ed glared at Dan with a sulky expression before withdrawing, and Dan, having arrived before Deon, finally spoke.
"The mission has been completed."
He had confirmed long before that there was no one nearby.
He pulled a bundle of talismans from his coat and respectfully extended them to Deon. Deon regarded them for a moment, then accepted the bundle and turned back toward the knights he'd been scolding just moments ago.
"All of you, gather up over here."
"Ah! The Captain's old way of talking is back!"
"Shut up and gather."
They really only listened if you told them twice.
He glared briefly at the knights who scrambled into a huddle around him, then let out a sigh and began distributing the talismans one by one.
Well, they took them since the Captain handed them over, but what in the world were they? Someone among the knights, who had been examining the yellowed paper with bewildered expressions, cautiously raised a hand.
"Captain, what are these?"
"Talismans that make the conditions of battle between you bastards and the demon-race a little more even. Though only 'a little,' of course... From now on, you are to keep these on your person at all times, no matter when or where. Without even this level of preparation, what were you thinking, picking a fight with the 0th Legion?"
Just thinking about it again made his blood pressure spike.
Feeling a heat rising as if a fever were coming on, Deon quietly pressed his hand to his forehead.
Right. Those lunatics had picked a fight with the 0th Legion without any preparation whatsoever. It was a relief he'd heard the news, however belatedly, and stopped them before a fight could break out — otherwise, they'd all have been dead before they could even whimper.
'This is the Demon Realm.'
This wasn't the human world, bound by all manner of restrictions. It was dangerous to judge things based on the demon-race they'd faced in the human world. And on top of that, the ones they'd picked a fight with were the 0th Legion. The elite among the elite.
If the Mad Dogs, who were not even 'Heroes', tried to fight them — one hundred out of one hundred times, they'd die in an instant. Deon let out a heavy sigh.
"Why did you do it?"
"Huh?"
"Why did you pick a fight?"
There was no way that guys who specialized in survival had failed to recognize the gap between the enemy and their own level.
They might look like they never thought about anything, but he knew that these were, surprisingly, the kind of bastards who fully assessed the difference in ability, the situation, the context, and even the justification before moving within the bounds of not getting themselves killed. That was why he could not help but question it.
"In the Demon Realm, in the stronghold of the demon-race, even if you had my name as backing, in an atmosphere where people don't look favorably on you — just why...?"
"But still..."
A voice thick with indignation slipped out.
"But those bastards said they were the 'true subordinates of Deon-nim'! They told us they'd take charge of the Captain, and that we should crawl into a corner and act like we didn't exist!"
"The Captain is ours!"
"We've served him longer!"
"We fed him, put him to bed, clothed him, raised him with utmost care!"
Good lord.
Dan, who had been quietly observing the situation, muttered as if groaning.
"...For such a petty reason as that?"
"Petty reason?! This is critically important!"
"That's right, critically important! That's exactly why we tried to settle it one-on-one with the Captain at stake!"
Deon, who had been listening quietly with his arms crossed, even to the small murmur that they hadn't been able to fight because the Captain showed up, looked around at the knights with deep contempt. A voice that did nothing to hide that same contempt slipped right out of his mouth.
"You really did something utterly pointless."
"Captain, utterly pointless?! For us, it was critically—"
Thump. He extended a finger in a gesture of restraint, pressing it against the forehead of the one who was about to start ranting in excitement again, and continued speaking.
"Your entire premise was wrong."
"?"
"Saying that I belong to you bastards — it'd be the other way around, wouldn't you say?"
"...!"
"Isn't that right?"
There was never any reason to fight in the first place.
The knights' eyes went wide.
A brief silence passed, and then reactions erupted like an explosion.
"That's right! We belong to the Captain!"
"Ahhh, we were making a massive error! To mistake such an important and obvious fact!"
"In all my living days, to hear the Captain say something like that... I now have no regrets even if I die..."
Dan let out a baffled, hollow laugh, but no one paid him any attention.
Of course, to someone else, such a statement might be unpleasant. But to the knights, it was sheer joy.
Because it was practically a direct confirmation from our Captain, Deon Hart, that this bond wasn't a one-sided thing felt only by the knight order.
"I never thought the Captain would express it in words..."
"Me neither..."
You could sense a faint affection and consideration in his actions or in the words he tossed out casually, but there was a clear difference from hearing it directly.
Regardless of whether Deon and Dan were left speechless, the knights each wiped away tears.
"We love you too, Captain!"
"What kind of bullshit..."
"You're scary, but we love you!"
"How on earth did your thinking lead the conversation..."
"Long live the Captain!"
"Looong live!"
"And where did you pick up that... no, forget it."
He had no idea how the conversation had veered so wildly in that direction, but saying any more here would only make his own mouth hurt.
Deon, who had been touching his lips in faint irritation, pulled something from his coat and held it in his mouth. Dan naturally extended a flame, and just as Deon tilted his head slightly to light it—
"Captain, is that drugs?"
A voice filtered with undisguised horror rang out.
"We're not in combat right now, sir?"
"...That's my business."
"Can you really say that? You're the very Captain who told us that if there was ever a guy using drugs outside of combat, we should cut his head off if we had to, to stop him!"
"I'm the Captain, so it's fine."
"Don't be unreasonable! That's an abuse of power!"
Even as his voice gradually lowered, a swarm of them talked back to him and snatched the cigarette right out of his mouth. A frown creased Deon's brow, but no one cared.
Candy, we need to give him candy or something...
The knights, each rummaging through their pockets, put on long faces.
"I've got no candy."
"I'm out."
"No chocolate either."
And they couldn't very well cut off the Captain's head.
They checked their own pockets, each other's pockets, and even pried open their neighbor's mouth just in case — then their gazes turned toward Dan, who had been standing there silently the whole time.
"...What?"
"Got any candy?"
"No... Now that I think about it, yes, I do."
Were all sorcerers like this? He'd wondered why the sorcerer had pushed candy on him, candy he didn't even like, before he came here.
He fished out the candy he'd received from the sorcerer. A knight dashed over, took it, gave it a subtle sniff as if checking for poison, then peeled off the wrapper and popped it right into Deon's mouth.
Deon scowled at the sweetness that suddenly flooded his mouth, but that was the extent of it. Instead of getting angry or scolding them, he rolled the candy around in his mouth a few times and turned to Dan.
"I'm sure you handled it well enough on your own, but I still need to hear a report... Let's head back to the room."
......
Click. Dan closed the door to the room, received Deon's outer coat to hang on the rack, and began speaking casually.
"I successfully secured a distribution route for the talisman paper. I also secured promises of cooperation from many sorcerers."
"Finding sorcerers must have been the hard part. You worked hard."
"Ah, no, well... with money, everything's possible. Places like information guilds exist everywhere, after all."
Honestly, securing a whole bundle of talismans that suppressed the demon-race's abilities had been far more difficult.
"...Ah, I also ran into the butler."
"Rememver? Looks like he went to the estate. Why there..."
"No, I ran into him on my way to the information guild."
Dan recalled the old man who had casually greeted him with a 'long time no see', his face as impassive as ever, and spoke in a slightly dazed murmur.
"I received a great deal of help. Half of the sorcerers I connected with, I probably met through the butler. Among them was even a former imperial court sorcerer."
Of course, he had taken a brokerage fee, but considering the results, it was undeniably a huge help.
On top of that, hadn't the old man even known that Dan had followed Deon Hart? Far from reporting him, he'd actually helped. Gains aside, a certain unease was inevitable.
Deon, too, seemed to feel the same way, as he furrowed his brow.
"Just what is that old man's identity..."
"As expected, you don't know either, Master?"
"I don't. From the moment I received that mansion, he was just naturally there as the butler."
"I see."
Since it was more or less the answer he'd expected, Dan answered indifferently and picked up the vase on the windowsill — which was still bizarrely fresh despite the long time that had passed — to check the water level.
...He was sure Hien had said she had cut these flowers from the human world.
'They're not even flowers from the Demon Realm, and yet they're this fresh, without sun and without water?'
He confirmed that the inside was bone-dry, refilled it with water, and stared fixedly at the flower as if in a staring contest.
But the flower's appearance gave off a vibe not just of harmlessness but of actual gentleness, let alone any sense of danger. Swallowing a hollow laugh, Dan placed the vase back on the windowsill.
In that process, it was purely by chance that his gaze landed outside the window, on the Murderer Knight Order in the training ground.
The sight of each of them hiding talismans all over their bodies. Dan witnessed one among them, while tucking a talisman into a pocket, drop it to the ground with a light thump, and slowly began to speak.
"...It doesn't look like they'll diligently carry those talismans at all times. Wouldn't it be better to fit them into epaulets and make them wear them? If we roughly say it's proof that they're humans belonging to Deon Hart, everyone will understand."
"That's a good idea. Can't leave this to another demon-race, so you do it."
"......"
"Should I do it, then?"
"...No. I'll do it."
Was he really clueless?
Even though he had deliberately mentioned the epaulets, there was no reaction. Deciding it would be better to just ask directly, Dan cautiously broached the subject.
"By the way, how did you know about the existence of such talismans?"
"Hm?"
Deon, who had been sprawling on the bed with his forearm over his eyes, rolled onto his side and looked at Dan.
"The Demon King mentioned it during the Legion Commander meeting. He said that there are not only 'arrays' but also 'talismans' that suppress the magic of the demon-race."
"...Excuse me?"
"Hm?"
"...No, wait a moment... Talismans that suppress 'magic'? Not 'abilities'?"
"Aren't those the same thing?"
"...Good lord."
What kind of hellish hardship had I gone through, then? No, in the end, I learned of and even obtained an even better talisman, so it wasn't hellish hardship... but it still stung.
Dan covered his face with both hands. Deon propped his body up with a perplexed expression.
"What's the matter? What's wrong?"
"......"
"And what's with that insolent look in your eyes."
"Ah, no, just. A little aggrieved..."
"?"
The sight of him, floating question marks above his head as if he knew absolutely nothing, was truly infuriating.
No, it was true that he knew nothing. But at least let me gather my judgment here. Dan answered in a murmur, accompanied by a deep sigh.
"That talisman is not the kind that suppresses 'magic' as you were thinking, Master."
"...Then what is it?"
"I should say, it's a talisman that imposes 'the same restrictions as when one exits to the human world through the Boundary Line' on any demon-race within a three-meter radius."
"...It might be useless in the human world, but here, that's much better, isn't it? How did you even know to get something like that?"
"That's what I'm saying... Even I think it's remarkable."
Whether Deon's expression turned wry or not, Dan continued shamelessly.
Honestly, he had every right to act this way.
"So I would like you to be aware of it. Please know that this talisman has a function far superior to the one you mentioned, Master. For your information, uncovering its existence was not easy, nor was obtaining it."
"Ah... yeah... Good work..."
In any case, if that was the case, then he could stop worrying about the Mad Dogs dying.
It imposes the same restrictions as when they exit to the human world through the Boundary Line... That meant these talismans only forced the opposing demon-race to consume double the amount of mana required to use magic, rather than completely blocking their magic.
...If he could, it would be better to take every possible precaution.
"It would be best to put the human-world restriction talisman, as you said, into one epaulet, and a talisman that blocks magic usage into the other, and have them wear them on both shoulders."
"...Good thing I procured that kind of talisman too, just in case. Imagine if I hadn't."
Dan grumbled, but nodded his head nonetheless.
Having confirmed his agreement, Deon, unable to fight off his exhaustion any longer, closed his eyes. A slightly languid voice drifted out slowly.
"Put the human-world restriction talismans you brought into my epaulets as well."