Chapter 8: The 0th Legion Commander, Deon Hart (6)
Chapter 8: The 0th Legion Commander, Deon Hart (6)
"......Have you felt any particular discomfort while staying here?"
"Not particularly."
Even if I had, I had no choice but to say I didn't.
Recalling the Demon King's words that all the Legion Commanders were a little off-kilter, I answered without extra words, and Jeikar studied my expression with a faintly stiffened face.
"If you say 'not particularly'... that means there are some, then."
"Huh?"
"You're human, after all. You can't possibly have no discomfort. So don't hold back—speak up. I'll do what I can to accommodate you."
'What was this? Consideration...? Was it because I was talent the Demon King had personally brought in, so he looked after me personally, something like that?'
Even while thinking there was no way, I was holding onto a 'maybe,' but at that instant, Jeikar's voice continued.
As if he were walking on eggshells, in an even more cautious voice.
"So don't go overturning the castle or anything..."
"......I'm grateful just for your words."
'Of course there was no way. Uwaaaah, I want to die.'
'He was clearly circling back to the incident in the garden. He was obviously scolding me for pointlessly setting the garden on fire.'
'At the same time, this was a warning. A warning that if I ever pulled pointless nonsense like that again, he wouldn't let it slide.'
After I forced my throat open through the fear and managed to squeeze out an answer, he finally refocused on his food. Beside me, Asild, who had been silently waiting for the conversation to end, quietly opened his mouth.
No, he had been about to.
"Oh my, Lord Demon. It's been a while, hasn't it?"
If only the 4th Legion Commander hadn't suddenly interrupted.
Asild's brow furrowed deeply. My own brow nearly furrowed too, but I managed to control my expression just before.
'I really shouldn't have come here after all.'
From the 1st Legion Commander to the 3rd and 4th Legion Commanders. Unexpected people kept showing up one after another, and my already precariously hanging sanity was being ground into dust and scattered.
While I was bitterly regretting that I should have endured whatever Ben said, a low voice beside me slowly burrowed into my eardrums.
"Idelia, you know perfectly well what you're doing, don't you?"
It was a voice that sounded like gritted teeth even at a glance.
Even though I knew I wasn't the target, it was enough to make me flinch. But the 4th Legion Commander Idelia acted completely unaffected, laughing airily and covering the corner of her mouth with her fan.
"What do you mean? I don't know why you're angry?"
"Nonsense."
Asild growled.
Right, those two were originally on bad terms. I poked my already hole-riddled salad with my fork again and stubbornly ignored the scene unfolding in front of me.
Of course, inside I didn't feel that way. Honestly, I felt like hurling the food away... Ah, I already did that once.
Even though I hadn't eaten anything, I felt like getting indigestion.
Feeling like I would really get sick at this rate, I quietly set my fork down. Jeikar, who had been watching the situation, turned his head and called the two of them quietly.
"Both of you, stop. You seem to have forgotten who's in front of you."
"......Ah."
"My apologies."
As if on cue, both of their gazes turned to me.
Flustered, I hurriedly shook my head to indicate I was fine, and Idelia sat in the empty seat next to me and spoke quietly.
"I heard you burned down the garden?"
"Idelia."
"Ah, I apologize if I was rude. I was just curious what could have angered Lord Demon to such an extent..."
If it hadn't been for Jeikar, I really would have choked on nothing.
I really wished they would stop talking about the garden. She wasn't involved, nor had she witnessed it directly, so why was she this interested?
......Come to think of it, didn't they say the 4th Legion handles information?
'She would naturally be interested in this sort of thing.'
It was inevitable, given the nature of her work.
The 4th Legion, including Idelia, was in charge of information processing. Of course, the 2nd Legion mainly gathered intelligence, and the 4th Legion processed it—filtering out what needed filtering and extracting only the essence—but that didn't mean they never gathered information at all.
So....
'That means, at this moment, she is the most dangerous Legion Commander to me.'
It was an out-of-the-blue conclusion from my stream of consciousness, but it wasn't wrong.
I was the only human in the Demon Castle. Naturally, the majority here probably disliked me.
I had no idea when or where Idelia might uncover a weakness of mine and sell me out.
My mind snapped alert at the reality hitting me anew. I swiftly gathered my scattered thoughts, braced myself firmly, and met her eyes.
It seemed she had been looking at me all along; Idelia's eyes met mine immediately, and she smiled brightly as she said,
"According to the rumors, it was because of the gardener..."
"......."
"If you kept him alive because you were reluctant to do the deed yourself, I am more than willing to eliminate him on your behalf."
"......Forget it."
'As expected of the demon-race, the moment a problem arises, they immediately think of killing the cause. Did these people even have a concept of mercy...?'
I paused at that thought.
Which meant, if I thought about it the other way around, wouldn't it mean that I, too, had no mercy?
'No, this is dangerous.'
Future me was in danger.
I was already walking on thin ice as it was, but learning this fact made cold sweat run down my spine anew.
I exerted strength into the hand holding the fork. I gripped it so hard that the veins on the back of my hand bulged.
I thought I sensed someone flinch beside me, but that wasn't what mattered right now. For the sake of my future self, I had to instill 'mercy' into these people of the Demon Castle.
With that resolution, I lifted my bowed head and looked at Idelia. Unlike before, her eyes were trembling violently, as if she were hurt somewhere.
Did she bite her tongue? Looking closely, her hands seemed to be trembling too. Seeing her like that made me feel a bit sorry for her, but still, I had to say what needed to be said for the sake of my future self.
"It was nothing to begin with. Not worth killing over."
"Y-yes..."
"Do you understand? It wasn't worth killing."
"Yes, I'm sorry."
"Idelia, what are you sorry for? Just—before you talk about killing someone, think once. Whether the other really committed a wrong deserving death."
Ah, I almost forgot the most important thing.
"And sometimes, showing mercy isn't bad either."
"Yes, I will definitely remember. I am truly sorry."
I didn't know why she kept apologizing, but for now, this wasn't bad.
If I slowly influenced them like this, then someday even if I made a mistake, they'd let it slide once.
The problem was that after Idelia closed her mouth, silence descended. Seeing her gloomy expression and the rigid, hardened faces of the other Legion Commanders, the atmosphere felt like I had scolded her. Come to think of it, Idelia, who hadn't even done anything wrong, had been apologizing over and over.
Only then could I grasp the situation: I had become the scum of the earth.
"......."
"......."
The silence lengthened. As time passed, unable to withstand the pressure, my expression gradually slipped out of control and stiffened on its own.
It was only natural for the Legion Commanders' expressions to turn worse in turn. How could they be unfazed when a mere human dared to harden his expression in front of them?
While I was agonizing over how to resolve the worsening situation, Idelia, who had been exchanging glances with the other Commanders and desperately pondering something—as if the silence was uncomfortable not just for me—glanced at me once and quietly opened her mouth.
"......Lord Demon."
Oh, yes!
The awkward atmosphere dissolved. Gladly, I faced Idelia with an open heart, ready to listen to anything.
Alright, say anything. I'd listen to whatever she said this once...
"I heard you were going to inspect your legion."
—I'd listen to...
"Ah, I also have something to say regarding that."
Damn.
If things went south, I planned to run—no, excuse myself—and quietly pushed my chair back.
I had certainly said I would inspect the legion.
As for when that was... probably back when I said I wanted to drink and the Demon King showed up. It must have been then.
[Anyway, no alcohol. Do you have something to overturn the Demon Castle? If you're bored, go check on your legion or at least tour the garden. I heard Hien was happy because he brought in new flowers.]
[I will inspect the legion.]
I had chosen to deal with the legion members rather than face that horrible gardener.
How unfair. I had chosen the legion because I didn't want to deal with the gardener, but I ended up meeting Hien and now I had to inspect the legion too.
On top of that, since I'd said it in front of the Demon King, I couldn't take it back now.
"Lord Demon...? Are you all right?"
"I'm fine."
Had my expression looked strange? Fortunately, they didn't seem to care that I'd pushed my chair back. If I just watched for the right timing and ran...
'......No, that won't work.'
Now that I thought about it, I was completely surrounded.
To my left was Idelia, to my right Asild. Jeikar was in front of me. And every single one of them was a Legion Commander. The moment I tried to flee, they would immediately grab me by the scruff of the neck.
I resigned myself quickly.
I discreetly relaxed the tension in my body, and Asild, who couldn't have known I'd been about to run just moments ago, looked into my eyes and slowly began to speak.
"I understand that you carry a sword when inspecting the legion members."
I did carry one. Though I didn't swing it. And it was a wooden sword, not a real one.
That wooden sword was so heavy my arms shook. Shameful as it was, with my strength, I couldn't even dream of wielding an ordinary steel sword; I could barely lift a wooden one.
But what about it?
"After you have finished instructing all the legion members, may I request a sparring match then?"
"......."
I barely stopped my hand from going to my ear.
I must have been severely low on energy lately. To think I was hearing such nonsense.
My efforts to deny reality like that were mercilessly crushed when Jeikar casually let slip a remark.
"That's a good idea. May I observe?"
He'd told me to speak up if anything was uncomfortable, but apparently he couldn't see my expression begging for my life.
From the start, this was an absurd sparring match. Right off the bat, our weight classes were ridiculously different, so what sparring? Just looking at Asild's hand told the tale. Even if I got hit by that hand instead of a sword, my neck would definitely go snap—.
"......Well..."
I couldn't put off answering forever, so I squeezed out my voice.
Gazes focused on me all at once, as if they had been waiting.
Under those unbearably burdensome stares, I desperately racked my brain and found a suitable excuse.
—I had tried to find one.
"......That would be difficult."
Though in the end, I failed.
I slowly lowered my head.
Was this how it ended? Without a valid reason, they would push forward. Then my skills would be exposed, and I would pay dearly for deceiving them.
No, I probably wouldn't need to worry about after being exposed. Because I would die in one magnificent hit, revealing my true ability to the whole world.
The food, barely touched and now cold, came into view. I should have eaten my fill of warm food before dying.
I waited for an answer like a criminal awaiting a death sentence, but Asild's reaction was unexpectedly calm.
He was silent for a moment, then slowly nodded and spoke.
"Indeed, that makes sense."
"......?"
"Lord Demon, you tend to distinguish yourself in real combat rather than sparring. It might have been difficult for you because, if you mistook your strength, an incident where you accidentally kill me could occur."
"?"
"I apologize. I was thoughtless."
"No, well..."
Did it... work out?
I felt like I'd heard some ominous words I didn't understand, but anyway I'd avoided the spar, so I decided to call it a win.
"Later, when I have cultivated enough skill that I won't die easily, I will ask again then."
On second thought, it didn't seem like it worked out at all.
I was in big trouble.
"I will not make you wait too long."
"......."
"Still, may I come along today just to watch?"
I had ended up receiving a declaration of war from the 3rd Legion Commander.