Chapter 76: Back to the Demon Realm (4)
Chapter 76: Back to the Demon Realm (4)
"At this rate, you'll end up catching an innocent demon. You can't possibly not know that Demon-nim cherishes that guy."
"......Ben."
"You weren't really trying to kill him, were you? This fellow hasn't done anything wrong."
"And where is Demon-nim?"
He was dodging the question. I supposed I should be grateful he hadn't killed the gardener.
Talking nicely to someone like this never worked.
Ben let out a deep sigh and threw out a bluntly direct remark.
"Demon-nim seemed to be displeased."
"......."
"When I told him I'd make sure that incubus never approached again, his expression was not pleased."
Smoothly, the hand gripping Hien's throat relaxed its hold.
Hien collapsed to the floor, clutching his throat and coughing. Whether he did or didn't, Ed swept his hair back and clicked his tongue in irritation.
Ignoring Ed, Ben bent his knees and crouched in front of Hien, lifting his chin with a finger to examine his condition.
"......Fortunately, there's no real problem."
He let go and stood. His glance down at Hien, who was looking up at him, soon turned into a small laugh. The deflating chuckle dispelled the subtle silence.
"Try to understand. That fellow has some bad memories regarding incubi and succubi."
"Pardon?"
"Ben."
"He used to be someone without prejudice."
It was unbelievable. Hien opened his eyes wide and stared at Ed.
The demon-race had two main criteria for how they treated others: 'martial strength' and 'the method by which they supplied the energy needed for biological function.'
In the latter case, most demons obtained energy through meals, but a few demons either did not need to do anything special or obtained energy through other means.
No matter how they obtained energy, it didn't matter—unless they could only receive energy through someone else. In that case, that demon was despised.
'A repulsive and vulgar demon who barely survives by leeching off others. That's what incubi and succubi are....'
He observed Sir Ed's thoroughly irritated expression. The moment their eyes met, Ed's face contorted. Hien swallowed the words that had been circling in his mouth.
......He seemed full of prejudice to Hien.
"You seem unconvinced."
"......I believe you."
He believed, even if he couldn't quite accept it. Because that made it possible to understand why Ed could be so irritable yet never show genuine disgust.
'In other words... it's not that I'm the problem, it's that I'm an "incubus", right? And that's because of Sir Ed's personal feelings.'
Then all he had to do was stay out of Sir Ed's sight!
A hopeful conclusion was reached.
If Demon-nim had directly ordered him to stay out of sight, that would be one thing—but hadn't he said he wanted to keep seeing him?
Hien, thinking to himself that if Deon had heard, he would've jumped and shouted 'I never said that?!', called out to Demon-nim with a newly moved expression. Of course, he did it only inwardly, because if he voiced it, the attention of those two would turn this way.
Just then, a bubbling voice rang out.
"Ben, get out right now—no, wait. You, go back."
"Y-Yes?"
"That's right, gardener. You won't get to see anything good by staying, so you'd better leave."
They weren't even looking this way, just glaring at each other, but it was clearly meant for him.
Since both demons' intentions aligned, there was nothing to keep him here. Hien, who had been watching the standoff with a dazed expression, slowly and quietly backed away.
As he watched the retreating back, Ben turned his head and met the gaze that was glaring at him.
"What a terrifying look. If you could, you'd be trying to kill me."
"If you'd said one more word, that really would've happened."
"More? About what? About the time someone mistook a succubus for an incubus and confessed incorrectly..."
Bam!
The spot where Ben had been standing caved in.
"Shut up."
"......This isn't the training ground, you know."
Ben, who had already moved to avoid it, murmured as he surveyed the wrecked floor. When he lifted his eyes, they met Ed's. Seeing Ed's face, which was rarely flushed, made him snort.
"Calm down. Do you even know what you look like right now?"
"......."
"It's ugly. You already know that you can't lay a hand on the gardener now that you know Demon-nim doesn't wish it. Besides, the gardener hasn't done anything seriously wrong, has he?"
"......."
"Hurry and calm down, and go to where you belong. The news that Demon-nim has returned must have spread throughout the entire Demon Castle by now. Won't there be plenty of visitors?"
"......."
He had gone too far. Appalled by his own behavior, he had overreacted.
Ed, who had recalled the oddly audacious incubus, let out a sigh filled with disgust at himself.
He knew the gardener had done nothing wrong. It was just that he had reminded him of the most shameful memory in his perfectionist life, making him find the gardener objectionable.
If he had his way, he'd avoid him, but his position as Demon-nim's adjutant made that impossible. So he had tried to use this chance to remove him entirely.
He'd known without being told that Demon-nim didn't actually want him completely removed, but he'd ignored it under the excuse of acting for his lord's sake.
Even setting aside personal feelings, the existence of an incubus was something that tarnished Demon-nim's name, so there was no need to hesitate. However—
'To think I'd say something like that...'
He was the adjutant of the 0th Legion Commander.
Considering that he must not mix personal feelings into the actions he took for his lord, his current behavior was a disqualification.
Having thought that far, Ed raised a hand and rubbed his face to pull himself together.
'Let's go back.'
Whether an incubus in the past had disguised their gender to toy with his heart, or had spread word of his confession to make him a laughingstock—that was all in the past, and none of it had anything to do with the gardener.
He would forget. The more sensitively he reacted, the more ridiculous he himself became.
He would bury the memory as he always had, and thinking of Demon-nim, who would be waiting, he hastened his steps.
It was right in front of Deon's room that Ed met the 8th Legion Commander.
"Would it be all right for someone like me... to take up Demon-nim's time...?"
"What are you saying! Sir Hel, you are a proper Legion Commander! You weren't able to properly greet him last quarter, so you must do so properly this time!"
"But...."
A quarter referred to the time when Demon-nim left for a mission and when he returned to stay at the Demon Castle.
Because there were no special seasonal changes and the demon-race lived basically long lives, their concept of time was hazy, so they roughly divided quarters based on his movements. From the back-and-forth exchange, Ed had a strong guess as to who this black figure was.
A Legion Commander who hadn't greeted Demon-nim in the quarter before last.
A multitude of weapons hanging all over his body, even on his back. And a form black from head to toe.
"8th Legion Commander?"
"......!"
As expected.
Now confident that the other was the 8th Legion Commander, Ed immediately bowed his head.
"My greeting is late. I am Ed, adjutant to the 0th Legion Commander, Demon Arut-nim. What business brings the 8th Legion Commander here?"
***
The 8th Legion Commander, crouched in front of the door, was castigating himself as if he'd sink into the ground. Beside him, his adjutant was fervently boosting his spirits, and Dvelania, who had brought about this situation, was stifling her snickers.
'......Haha.'
What a mess.
I quietly watched the scene before me, then turned my head and sent Ed a look.
It was intended to get him to somehow clean up this mess, but Ed only bowed his head deeper and showed no sign of action.
'You bastard....'
He was the one who brought them here, and now this.
I stared at him with cold eyes, then turned away. First, I needed to salvage this insane situation.
Clap—
I lightly clapped my hands together. As if casting magic, everyone's attention instantly focused, and silence fell.
So....
"What a mess."
"What a mess... no, Your Majesty?"
Startled, Dvelania jumped to her feet.
What the—why is the Demon King here?! And behind him is Lirinel too.
First the 2nd Legion Commander, then the 8th, and now the Demon King and the 11th Legion Commander? What is this.
"D-Demon-nim...."
"......?"
Unlike the Demon King's composed expression, Lirinel was shifting her weight anxiously with uneasy eyes.
I grew anxious myself and looked at her. The moment our eyes met, she flinched before her face crumpled.
"I'm sorry...."
Wh-what for?
"Ah, it's nothing serious—it's just that Lirinel received something interesting. A uniquely shaped cookie."
The Demon King flashed a foxy eye-smile and waved something.
What he held in his hand was none other than a cookie bag. I didn't need to ask where it came from to know.
B-but, why? I thought I'd given her something fairly ordinary. Could it be that he's going to scold me for giving something weird to a Legion Commander? Because cookies from a human can't be trusted?
"Sorr..."
"You're not giving me one?"
"Sor... Pardon?"
"That's too mean. Giving something like this only to Lirinel."
"That's right, Demon-nim~, you didn't say a single word to me, but you gave something like that only to Lirinel? How could you~."
"......."
Before I could even feel relief, I was at a loss for words.
So, the Demon King came all the way here just because I didn't give him a souvenir?
And because the Demon King exposed it, even the 2nd Legion Commander began wanting a souvenir. Ed, though he seemed to be trying not to show it, was also staring at me intently, and even the 8th Legion Commander had stopped his self-reproach and was looking at me with an expectant gaze.
'......You were supposed to just keep reproaching yourself, why.'
"Demon?"
"Ah, yes. Just a moment...."
I hurriedly averted my eyes and started rummaging through the luggage I'd brought with me.
What did I have in there? I needed something decent. If I didn't hand them something, it seemed like they'd keep holding out here and not leave.
I'd roughly checked what Rememver had packed for me on the way here, but I hadn't looked closely, so I was a bit worried....
'Wow... unexpectedly....'
In the end, it was a pointless worry.
A silver pocket watch, white gloves, cookies. As long as I could assign some meaning to them, these items seemed like they could pass as presents.
'And they're new.'
Perfect.
The fact that I don't use a pocket watch, that gloves are stuffy so I only wear them on formal occasions, and that the cookies were flower and heart shapes, unlike the usual ones he provided, bothered me a little, but....
There was no way Rememver could have known. He probably packed them just in case.
'...Then was this one too, just in case...?'
Was it in case I returned to farming...?
I forgot to manage my expression and made a strange face at finding flower seeds in a corner of the bag that I hadn't even known were there.
"A pocket watch?"
"Yes."
"I'm not sure I should accept something this nice."
The Demon King grinned broadly and slipped the pocket watch into his pocket. My eyes, which had gone cold and slanted, were following that sight.
Words I couldn't bring myself to say circled in my mouth.
He asked for it and then....
"I was expecting cookies, you know. But to give me something this nice. Anyway, thank you."
"......!"
Did I say that out loud?
Seeing the Demon King turn away as if nothing had happened, it didn't seem like it. He said he was busy and excused himself. As I watched his retreating figure, my eyes met Lirinel's. Her face was still on the verge of tears as she mouthed.
'I'm really sorry.'
It wasn't okay, but it was okay. It was obvious she hadn't done it on purpose, so I couldn't scold her.
Once I roughly conveyed that it was fine, her face brightened instantly. She bent her head in a quick bow and hurriedly chased after the Demon King, disappearing.
I turned my gaze back to Ed. He was in the middle of changing his gloves.
'It's the same shape and the same color, so why go out of your way to...?'
The black, strange pattern on the back of his hand, usually hidden by white gloves, revealed itself for a moment before hiding again.
A chill ran down my spine for no reason, and as I subtly averted my gaze, Ed's satisfied voice came.
"Thank you, Demon-nim."
Well... if he liked it, that's what mattered. I nodded roughly and pulled out two bags of cookies from my bag.
Obviously, these were for the 2nd and 8th Legion Commanders.
It was a relief that exactly two bags of cookies were left; if not, it could have been a disaster. My nerves were still too small to bear the resentment of a Legion Commander.
But Dvelania's expression as she alternated her gaze between the cookies and the 8th Legion Commander was strange.
How should I put it, a feeling mixed with spite and mischief?
"Hmm~."
"......?"
"Hey, 8th Legion Commander."
There was no answer, but Hel reacted by lifting his head. Dvelania let out an ominous grin.