Chapter 88: A Vacation That's No Vacation (4)
Chapter 88: A Vacation That's No Vacation (4)
"You're not the Demon-nim I wished for...!"
"......"
"Just moments ago you were 'that' Demon-nim...! Why? Why have you changed?"
......I was the one who didn't understand why, why she was reacting like that.
As if she couldn't even feel my gaze looking at her like she was a madwoman, Silua, who'd been flailing about for a while, suddenly snatched up one of the nearby demonic beasts. And at the action that followed, I was momentarily at a loss for words.
A demonic beast shoved right in front of my nose. Eyes bloodshot, filled with something uncertain—expectation or hope—and even flashing with a hint of madness.
"Now, Demon-nim. Here is a demonic beast! Please bestow upon it the rest called death with that dagger of yours, won't you!"
"......"
Silence, and then I stepped backwards.
For once, I didn't need to hesitate in carrying out that action.
Ben was also backing away with a fed-up expression, and Dvelania had long since made a disgusted face and distanced herself again to deal with the demonic beasts.
"Demon-nim? Why are you avoiding it? Please show us 'that' appearance again, won't you!"
I don't know, man. I don't even know what it is you want, and even if I did, I have no desire to show it to you, alright?
Of course, I couldn't say that thought out loud outright.
I desperately averted my gaze from Silua, who was breathing heavily, drunk on anticipation, and carefully opened my mouth. With words that might somehow let me evade this insane situation for now.
"For now..."
"For now?"
"This isn't really the situation to..."
"Ah! You were annoyed because the surroundings were noisy!"
So that was why you lost the mood!
Silua's face brightened as if she'd found a clear solution.
The two daggers spun in her hands and slid back into their sheaths, and her empty hands clapped together lightly.
Clap.
—From all directions, figures wielding daggers just like her burst forth.
......
"......You're insane. Absolutely insane. No matter how much support you're bringing, how can you just abandon the Boundary Line and come here?"
"I didn't abandon it, you know? I left my adjutant behind, I told you."
"Do you think leaving just your adjutant counts as handling everything! You brought your entire legion with you! I feel sorry for the 7th Legion Commander's adjutant. How much trouble must they be going through right now..."
"Thanks to that, we got solid support, didn't we. How about the attending physician just focus on his patient? Can't you see Demon-nim doesn't look well?"
......In the midst of all that, she was even concerned about my expression. I wasn't sure whether to thank her.
My bewilderment at the arrow suddenly flying my way was brief; I barely managed to hide my awkward expression.
Perhaps because the presence or absence of an entire legion made a big difference, the seemingly endless horde of demonic beasts was quickly dealt with once Silua's 7th Legion joined in.
Of course, I was grateful.
'I'm grateful, so now I wish you'd just piss off.'
The entire time they were dealing with the demonic beasts, Silua was desperate to press a weapon into my hands. She kept catching one beast or another and asking me to kill it...
If Ben, worried about my health, hadn't stepped in and insisted that Demon-nim now needed to rest, I would've been helplessly forced to stand before those hideous demonic beasts.
After watching the few remaining demonic beasts being cleaned up, I tottered toward the carriage and opened the door.
Silua, who'd been watching me even while handling things, tilted her head.
"Oh, are you going in? You're not finishing off those ones? I purposely left them for you, Demon-nim, you know..."
So it was on purpose.
I hesitated only for a moment, then pretended not to hear and loaded myself into the carriage. Dvelania drew a clear smile and approached Silua.
"The cleanup's mostly over, so how about the 7th Legion Commander leaves now?"
"To use me like this and discard me so soon? I didn't think of you that way, but Dvelania is more cold-hearted than I expected."
"What sad nonsense. We're planning to head to the second city. Surely the 7th Legion Commander knows who's guarding the second city right now?"
Silua's face crumpled instantly, as if she'd recalled someone.
"......The 10th Legion Commander."
Blatant contempt and disgust.
Silua spat on the ground as if the very fact he held the same title of Legion Commander as her was distasteful, and gestured toward her legion members.
"Indeed, retreating from here would be far better than meeting that creature unworthy of being called a Legion Commander. I'll see you later."
"Alright."
"......It seems the work is finished, so please withdraw this thread."
"Oh my, I'm sorry. Since you came in so easily, like a loach, I thought you'd leave just as easily on your own."
"Entering and leaving aren't difficult, but I simply wonder if I must inconvenience myself to leave this way."
Grit. The sound of teeth grinding was audible.
Dvelania, forcing a smile with her jaw clenched tight, waved her hand. As if they'd been waiting, the entangled threads unraveled all at once and returned to their respective owners' hands.
Contrary to the worry that they might get tangled midway, it was a clean finish.
"Thank you. Farewell, then."
"......"
I expected her to cling a bit more, but she really turned away with surprising simplicity.
The 10th Legion Commander must be referring to Gaisitel. Why that reaction?
My question was resolved the moment I entered the second city where he was said to reside.
'Whoa... insane.'
Perhaps because most of the demonic beasts had swarmed there back then, no more beasts of that scale had appeared since. Thanks to that, Dvelania, the 2nd Legion members, and the rampaging Ben were more than enough to handle things, and since we'd just arrived at the second city, I'd let my guard down—
'......To attack in this way.'
Had he aimed for my moment of carelessness? Excellent psychological warfare, 10th Legion Commander.
After arriving at the second city, I threw on the robe Ben had prepared for me in place of my adjutant Ed, who hadn't followed me. I got off the carriage. And what greeted me was none other than—
Flutter flutter.
—Colored, glow-in-the-dark paper fluttering down against the night sky.
"Of all the things... confetti..."
As I stared blankly at the sky, Dvelania clicked her tongue beside me as if she found it pathetic.
I'd been about to turn toward her, but the drumming that followed fixed my gaze straight ahead again.
Demons lined up to form a path, and from the center of it, a demon with large bat wings walked forward, bringing a palanquin behind him.
He walked right up to me, who still hadn't adapted to this situation, and bowed respectfully.
"It's been a long time. Demon-nim."
"Ah... yes."
"I hurriedly prepared this upon hearing you were coming. How is it? I had to hastily research human world culture, so it might be quite lacking..."
No wonder. For a moment I'd wondered if things like this existed in the demon world too.
He seemed to have worked hard, but to give my honest impression...
'Embarrassing as hell.'
All the demons around us were staring right at us. My face burned and I couldn't even lift my head. And this was thanks to the robe; if I'd been barefaced, I might've died of shame.
It was clumsy and excessive at the same time...
Only then did the personality of the demon before me, the 10th Legion Commander, come to mind.
'This guy... he had a bit of a servile personality, right?'
The way he was cautiously reading my mood, and really, just as Silua had said, he was a Legion Commander completely unlike a Legion Commander.
Not knowing how to react, I'd fallen into silence. It was Dvelania who opened her mouth in my stead.
"And what's that thing behind you...?"
"Ah, this is called a palanquin. I heard that those of high status in the human world ride around in them. Since Demon-nim is human, I thought you might miss it, so I prepared it."
No. I'd never even ridden one of those before. And before that, why was he so certain I'd held a high status?
Palanquins were used in the 'South'. What's more, I'd heard they're nearly obsolete these days and only royalty uses them briefly during special events.
'Normally, someone at the level of Legion Commander sneaks out to the human world occasionally, don't they...? If so, they should be able to tell the difference between the North and South.'
At the very least, Dvelania definitely knew, as she turned her head aside and her shoulders shook. If she knew, she could've said something.
I quietly pressed my forehead.
'......How do I fix this.'
"Demon-nim!"
"......?"
At that moment, Ben, who'd been standing still, shoved demons aside and came running out.
Dvelania, who got mixed in the gap and shoved as well, stared at him dumbfoundedly, but he paid her no mind and fidgeted in front of me, repeatedly checking his magic stone necklace.
"Demon-nim! Does your head hurt?! Please bear with it just a little longer. I'll quickly treat you... damn it, there's no reaction? That means...!"
I didn't know what he was thinking, but it wasn't that.
I subtly lowered the hand pressing my forehead.
I was just about to somehow explain I was fine, thinking this might escalate.
"H-Huh! Your head hurts? By chance, here is a palanquin, so please get on quickly!"
Not missing the opportunity, the 10th Legion Commander Gaisitel immediately presented the palanquin. Facing the incredibly flashy palanquin, I couldn't bear to face reality and quietly averted my eyes.
'......If I ride that, my head's probably going to hurt even more.'
As a result, I managed to draw the attention of every single demon in this city.
Yeah, I rode it.
'I'm really glad I wore the robe.'
......Really glad.
***
The man sitting in the flashy palanquin, wearing a black robe, was more alien than anything else.
It wasn't that it didn't suit him. The palanquin, which might have been ridiculous, instead highlighted him by carrying him.
The relaxed way he naturally leaned back against the backrest. The posture of resting an arm on the armrest and pressing his forehead as if something bothered him.
Because the robe's hood was pulled down low and hid his face, his appearance further amplified the imaginations of the city's demons who had gathered at the news of the 0th Legion Commander's visit, capturing their gazes in a different way.
'No mana can be felt, so he's definitely a human...'
'A human has that kind of atmosphere?'
'As expected of the 0th Legion Commander.'
Among demons, the number 0 carried great significance.
A human personally recruited, not by adding a number to the end, but by creating a place that wasn't there before. A human brought in even by placing him above the 1st Legion Commander Jeikar—
The prideful Legion Commanders gave meaning to the numbers they held, but in truth, the numbers they held didn't mean much. Up to 3 was respected to some extent, but if you had to pick numbers that actually mattered, it was only the 1st Legion Commander who was qualified to act as the Demon King's proxy.
That was why the number '0', higher even than that, attracted the attention of all demons in the demon world.
What was the Demon King thinking, giving him that position?
Why did the other Legion Commanders accept him?
What was the role he'd been given— and what was the extent of his abilities.
——What on earth was his value?
At the time of his recruitment, the merits he'd established were sufficient to become a Legion Commander, but there was a lingering question about giving him the position of 0th Legion Commander.
Simply stopping the Hero's self-destruction and killing the previous 7th Legion Commander before that wasn't enough. Wouldn't it have been fine to just give him the 13th spot?
So they had gathered. To see the face of the famous 0th Legion Commander, and to resolve their doubts.
'Now I see.'
'I feel like I don't need to dig for the reason.'
In the end, they hadn't seen his face, but their doubts were resolved.
They could see why the other Legion Commanders had accepted him without much complaint.
His aura was different from the start.
Compared to the 10th Legion Commander Gaisitel, who had come to guard the city, the gap was even more apparent.
If Gaisitel was a street punk, Demon Arut was the head of the underworld, or at least his right hand. Even compared to Dvelania, the 2nd Legion Commander who had a far weightier presence than Gaisitel, the difference remained.
Look even now. Wasn't Dvelania acting as an escort and servant, and Gaisitel purely showering him with flattery beside him? Even though they themselves were also 'Legion Commanders'. What's more, the 0th Legion Commander didn't even have a notable reaction to Gaisitel's flattery.
Wordlessly, he'd settled into place on the palanquin and fixed his gaze forward. The moment the demons admired him,
The 0th Legion Commander, who'd been pressing his forehead as if tired, in pain, or irritated, opened his mouth.
"......"
"Yes? Demon-nim, what did you say?"
Just as expected, Gaisitel, who'd been standing by beside him, hurriedly drew close and tilted his ear toward him, not missing the opportunity.
An invisible gaze from within the robe seemed to glance toward him, and then a small voice flowed out.
Everyone strained their ears, and Gaisitel, who'd heard his words from closest by, kindly recited the contents in place of his voice.
His voice spread widely through the silent space.
"......—."
"Piss?"
"...——."
"Off. Piss off. Yes, 'piss off' is what he said..."
"......"
"......"
For a moment, a brief silence passed.