Chapter 85: A Vacation That's No Vacation (1)
Chapter 85: A Vacation That's No Vacation (1)
While suspicion belatedly surged and I seriously mulled things over, someone suddenly appeared beside me.
Without so much as a glance at me—who had stepped back on guard, or rather, because I flinched in surprise—he instantly cut off the seemingly endless standoff between those two.
"Sure, Dvelania. We should prepare for any unforeseen circumstances."
"......Tch."
Dvelania clicked her tongue and backed off, and Ben bowed his head as if it were only natural.
Only then did the Demon King turn his head and take me in. When our eyes met, his Inverse Eyes, their whites and pupils reversed in color, subtly curved.
"You said you weren't bringing the 0th Legion?"
"......Yes."
"Is it because they'd get in the way? Or because you don't want your share stolen?"
"Excuse me?"
The alarm bell that had been quietly sounding for a while now began to ring wildly, far too late.
At this overdue warning from my instincts, I spat out curses internally and, unable to even give a proper answer, inched backward.
Buying clothes was clearly a pretext; no matter how I looked at it, the vibe was a fight. Should I just make a run for it now?
But my feeble attempt immediately fell apart.
"Then hurry up and go. Everything's ready, so you just have to depart."
Whether by coincidence or intent, a pale hand with striking black nails came to rest on my shoulder. I stared blankly at that hand before fixing an impassive face on the Demon King.
Then I took in Dvelania, who had noticed my presence and was waving for me to get on, before turning back to the Demon King once more.
"Withdrawing is still...."
"Of course it's not allowed."
.......
For the first stretch after departing, nothing happened.
It was just that I got pretty exhausted from walking on eggshells around Dvelania and Ben's constant friction.
Clatter-clatter.
Inside the pitifully shaking carriage, I was busy enduring motion sickness and the two demons' battle of nerves—two types of assault at once.
"Why doesn't the personal physician just get off and run alongside now?"
"I'm sorry, but a personal physician must remain within range to attend to his patient at any time."
"Then at least go sit up on the roof. If anything dangerous happens, I'll give a signal—"
"The carriage is spacious enough; I wonder if there's truly a need to go that far."
I resolved not to care. This was none of my business. Nothing I needed to worry about. So ignore it... urgh, the motion sickness.
'God.'
Why do you give me such trials...!
For the record, I'm an atheist. Driving an atheist to cry out to the gods—you vicious bastards.
Oblivious to my feelings, Dvelania, her mood thoroughly soured in the meantime, crossed her arms and spat out words with her trademark drawn-out tone.
"You must be so proud, having once been the Demon King's personal physician~?"
"I am currently the 0th Legion Commander's personal physician. My high pride is only natural."
"The Legion Commander holds the right to summary execution. Why not get a grip, unless you want to be the target?"
"Please, by all means, try it if you are confident you can touch the 0th Legion Commander's personal physician and remain unscathed. I will show you just how terrifying a personal physician can be."
Ah, could you please just stay quiet? I'm already nauseous and suffering from a splitting headache.
At first, I'd felt reassured because, contrary to the ominous signs, nothing happened... but now I wished something would just happen.
Anything at all, someone please get me out of this atmosphere. Please.
—Kaboom!!
"Lord Demon, Lady Dvelania! Demonic beasts!"
Not that kind of thing.
'I know I'm asking a lot, but if something's going to happen, could it at least be something I can handle?'
I hurriedly opened the window and checked outside.
A pitch-black wave of demonic beasts was surging toward us. Fortunately, they were crumbling en masse as their ankles were first cut by the threads laid out by the 2nd Legion soldiers, but it was obvious at a glance that it wouldn't be enough.
As I scanned the situation outside, I spotted a particularly large beast among those crawling on the ground and easily identified the source of the earlier loud noise.
'With something that size falling over, it'd be stranger if it didn't make that kind of noise.'
If I fought out there, I'd definitely die. Was there a hole to slip through... it didn't look like it?
Wondering what to do, I turned to glance inside the carriage and momentarily stiffened my expression.
Dvelania was leisurely looking out the window, and Ben was rummaging through the bag he'd brought. Their attitudes were far too composed, utterly mismatched with the current situation.
As if they had anticipated this.
'......Aha.'
I assessed the situation quickly. I bit down hard on my teeth.
So that's what "taking the outer route" meant. That damned Demon King.
No wonder their reactions had seemed off since we departed. If I'd been a bit more suspicious and thought things through, I could have easily caught on.
'No, it's not like I didn't foresee it at all.'
I'd just dismissed it with a "surely not," because I wanted it to be otherwise.
They said the demonic beasts were increasing by the day. Even before I went to the Empire, their numbers were so high we ended up fighting a city defensive battle—what about now, after time had passed?
They would only have increased, not decreased.
And one of the bits of news that regularly reached me even while I was holed up in my room, nominal 0th Legion Commander though I was, surfaced in my mind.
'Ever since that city defensive battle, they said they stationed a Legion Commander there.'
And that the demonic beasts' movements had changed.
While some still battered the city walls, others were instinctively sensing the difficulty and relocating to invade the territories of other species in search of easier prey. Supposedly, the leaders of those species had lodged complaints over it.
Demonic beasts were masses of errors born from the Demon King's power.
So naturally, the responsibility lay with the Demon King.
They must have had to clean them up. Pacing the edges of demon territory to stop demonic beasts from encroaching on other races' lands.
The boundary line touching other races' domains. If that wasn't the "outer reaches of the Demon Realm," what was?
Right now, I was moving along the edge of the demon world. For the purpose of demonic beast cleanup!
'That order to "take the outer route" was a command to go clean up demonic beasts on the way.'
And naive me had just accepted it without a second thought. Damn it.
'I can't do this.'
Just look at that. That's practically a tidal wave of demonic beasts. A black tide was rushing wildly toward us, and they expected me to deal with that?
Absolutely impossible. No, I won't do it.
The conclusion was reached without any need to think.
'Let's just bolt.'
If I ran straight for the second city without looking back, I had a decent chance of survival. The horses in this world were practically monsters, after all—unlike human-world horses.
The problem was how to convince these dangerous individuals inside the carriage and make my escape....
I was mulling over how to package my opinion when it happened.
Dvelania, who had been fiddling with transparent threads in her hands while gazing out the window, grinned suddenly and sprang to her feet.
"Well then, I'll head out first and hold them off, so Demon, please take your time coming out~"
"......Excuse me?"
What? No, wait...!
The carriage door opened and shut before I even had a chance to say a word.
I froze, my hand stretched out awkwardly toward the door.
I creakily turned my head to see that every time something flashed outside the window, dismembered demonic beasts rained down.
......Right, the 2nd Legion Commander's main weapons were threads pulled from demonic beast hide. That's cool. It's cool, but... dammit. With this, my plan to blow everything off and race to the city was ruined.
I withdrew my still-outstretched hand and turned back to the one remaining in the carriage. Our eyes met, and an awkward silence flowed.
"......."
"......."
Ben was the one who broke the awkward atmosphere first.
He naturally lowered his eyes, rummaging through his bag again, and spoke in a nonchalant tone.
"I understand your feelings, Demon-nim."
"......."
No, you don't.
Starting with an out-of-the-blue remark in this situation already confirmed that.
"It's a rare battle, so you must have wanted to monopolize it. However, there are plenty of demonic beasts; I don't think there's any need to stop the 2nd Legion Commander."
See, I knew it. Not that I expected you to in the first place.
I just quietly watched Ben's actions with a "yeah, figured as much" look, when he slowly pulled something out of his bag, as if he'd found what he wanted.
Once I identified the object, my eyes flickered minutely.
"Of course, I do regret that it spoiled your excitement, Demon-nim. So, I prepared this to lift the mood."
What he held in his hand was none other than alcohol.
With a blank face, I looked between the alcohol and the medical bag. I forcibly swallowed the words that were about to burst out.
Why is that... coming out of there?
"Anyway, this is all the alcohol there is, so I won't say anything no matter how much you drink. All you have to do is drink your fill and feel better."
Well... judging by how things were shaping up, this damn battle seemed unavoidable. And if that was the case, having some alcohol to ease the tension did seem like a good idea....
I looked down at the cup being filled in my hand with complicated eyes.
......Yeah, dying sober is definitely not the way to go. It's going to hurt, after all.
I downed the drink in one shot.
***
Demon Arut had left even his adjutant behind, giving the reason that only he and the 2nd Legion Commander Dvelania were going. But the personal physician, Ben, had followed tenaciously.
It was by order of the Demon King.
The overt reason was for the sake of his health, which could deteriorate at any moment. And the secretly given order was....
"Demon might show signs of hesitation about the battle."
"......Lord Demon, you mean?"
"Yes. Of course, if it seems truly dangerous, he'll instantly turn and sweep everything away, but normally he's so mild he's too mild. Honestly, 'mild' doesn't quite fit—'gentle' is more like it... no, so gentle it borders on weak."
"That's...."
It was true. Unless there was a special reason, like drinking alcohol or being in mortal peril, he always avoided battle.
If a demon who didn't know his true nature saw him, they'd undoubtedly view him as prey without a second thought.
As Ben couldn't muster any reply and merely parted his lips, the Demon King, seated on the dais, silently laughed and waved his hand.
The attendant who had been standing by quietly walked over and placed the tray he was holding before Ben.
As his eyes naturally followed it downward, a bottle of alcohol entered his field of view.
"He certainly enjoys fighting, but usually, even without reason to hold back, he endures more than necessary. Then at some point, he explodes over something small, spilling more blood than he needs to."
So wouldn't it be better to let him cut loose when he can?
His contradictory past actions flickered through Ben's mind. The Demon King spoke softly toward the silent Ben.
"If we had leeway like during the last city siege battle, it might be different, but currently, time is too precious to wait for him to move on his own. And I don't want to purposely put him in danger, either."
"......."
"So I'm giving you an order."
In the dim space where faint moonlight streamed in, the Demon King rested his chin in his hand, tapping his temple with his index finger, and smiled.
The lips, uniquely revealed under the moonlight, lifted in perfect symmetry.
"If you sense Demon showing signs of hesitating in battle, get him to drink."
Ah. Ben closed his mouth, which had been open.
In the end, he was the Demon King.
The sovereign of the demon world, who utilized everything usable within the bounds of possibility, to the fullest extent achievable.
Before that unreadable, smooth smile, Ben could only bow his head and quietly pack the bottle.
'In truth, I was a little worried, but....'
It would be a serious problem if the 0th Legion Commander went on a rampage, unable to distinguish friend from foe. When his drunken antics reached their peak, it was nothing short of a calamity.
But as if having anticipated his concern, the Demon King had even given him a precise threshold.
Even if he fed him, it was to be strictly within 5 bottles, based on alcohol with 25% alcohol content. Anything past that, and the drunken antics would begin.
And now, back to the present.
"Alcohol, huh...."
Tap. Tap. Tap. Tap.
Pale fingers drummed on the carriage armrest at regular intervals. A strange smile lingered at the corner of his mouth, and his crimson eyes glinted, different from usual.
At some point, the cup he had been drinking from lay discarded on the carriage floor.
Deon, who had been swirling the bottle while looking down, tilted his head crookedly and slowly raised his gaze to look at Ben.
Their eyes met, and in that moment.
Tap.
The fingers stopped.
"......."
"......."
A tenacious silence, as if even the air were being strangled.
In a suffocating stillness where one could barely draw a breath, Deon, who had been watching Ben without a twitch, grinned.
Simultaneously, as if the suppressed madness erupted, a flood of all sorts of sinister emotions began overflowing from his blood-red eyes.
He spoke.
"You used your head, huh?"