This is the first he'd seen the 0th Corps since the '0th Corps training ground intrusion incident'.
The corps members were as nervous as ever in their lives as they waited for Demon to come out.
After 'that day', Demon did not visit the training ground again.
Of course, he was a person who visited extremely infrequently, but since there was a not-so-small incident, they thought he might visit at least once more. However, as if to ridicule the thoughts of such corps members, he did not visit Corps 0 until today.
Naturally, the corps members could not help but be overcome with anxiety.
"Is he still angry?"
"But he certainly seemed fine at the time."
"You idiot, do you just believe what you see?"
"He must be tired of our inability to notice even that intruder..."
"..."
A silence fell that was closer to gloom rather than coldness.
They wanted to deny it, but couldn't. Because he is someone who can have a greater impact on the battlefield when he directly jumps into battle and swings a dagger than when he commands an army.
It was obvious that for such a person, even if he had a full legion at his disposal, he would be just fine without it.
So they trained harder. Even though they couldn't help, they tried and tried not to be a hindrance.
In the end, it spun around and was back in place.
The 0th Corps Commander's skills were beyond imagination, and they still couldn't even keep up with his toes.
They were proud that they had improved my skills on that topic...
On that day when things were a little relaxed, Demon came to visit and caught an intruder who had snuck into the training center without anyone noticing. It was also proof that their skills, which they believed had grown, were completely useless.
So it would be natural for him to get tired of them.
Because they're incompetent. Because it would be more comfortable and advantageous for him to be alone.
"..Let's do some training."
"Okay. We're leaving in a few days, so I need to improve my skills a little more so I don't get in trouble."
"Because there's nothing we can do anyway."
You had to see Demon's face to know anything about his feelings, but all the Corps members could do because they couldn't see him face to face was to wait for the day to go out and make all kinds of guesses in the meantime.
And today.
Now that everyone was ready and waiting.
'…Why isn't he coming out?'
Even though a considerable amount of time has passed, Demon did not appear. How long had it been since his adjutant, Ed, went to pick him up?
Anxiety began to spread throughout the 0th Corps in the cold dawn wind.
They couldn't move because they didn't know when Demon would come out, so they just looked around here and there, and finally the door that had been firmly closed burst open.
Demon, who had a more stern expression than usual, seemed to be calmly walking out, but when he saw them, he stopped in place.
And as they looked at his face becoming increasingly colder, the 0th Corps members were convinced.
'It looks like he still doesn't want to see us.'
There was silence. The early morning breeze was cold, but sweat was dripping from their foreheads like rain.
Someone swallowed, their mouth feeling dry. It was probably the same for everyone.
'We won't be abandoned as soon as we go outside.'
The Corps members were desperately exchanging glances with each other as they tried to quickly think of a way to relieve Demon's anger.
***
I was a quiet person. Is it surprising that someone who was born with a different appearance than others and has lived a life of discrimination wouldn't be good at talking to others?
Giving an appropriate answer to someone else's words itself consumes a lot of my heart and brain, and it is that tiring.
To twist this a bit, it's hard to give an appropriate answer, but it's even harder to speak up first when there's such awkward silence.
So here I was.
"..."
"..."
I was waiting for someone among them to open their mouth first.
Fortunately, the silence wasn't that long compared to what I had experienced so far.
"What are you all doing? Daemon, you're angry!"
"?!"
The intervention of someone completely different, not a Corps member, nor Ben, nor Ed. That alone was surprising, but the content contained in the voice was enough to make me cringe.
'I'm not angry?'
It's not a situation to be angry with in the first place. This was obviously my fault for being late…
No, no, that's not the important thing...
"Lirinel?"
Why is she here?
I slightly raised my head towards the place where the voice came from and saw a small figure floating in the sky. The sight of her with her back to the moon was quite dreamy, but unfortunately her small and petite body does not capture anything more than cuteness.
I think she wanted to look cool... Maybe I should buy her some milk later.
"Sorry!"
Oh please...!
While I was momentarily distracted by the figure in the sky, the 0th Corps members bowed as a group as if some wind had blown them over.
A loud voice dispersed like an echo in the sky.
'What's wrong with you all too? Really.. there's nothing you need to apologize for.. could it be because of Lirinel?'
The commander of the 11th Legion and the holder of magical power second only to the Demon King.
I often forget about it because of her cute appearance, but that doesn't mean her reputation is going anywhere.
So, for mere corps members, it would be like hell.
Such a dangerous being shouts out with the nuance that you should quickly apologize? Even if you didn't do anything wrong, you'd have no choice but to apologize.
'And I will take the blame…'
Lirinel, who had no way of knowing what was burning inside me, landed in my line of sight.
She pretended to be shy and polite and sported a look that says, 'I did a good job, right?' She looked at me with that expression on her face...
Damn, I can't even be angry if she looks like that.
I feel like if I get angry, I will become an unscrupulous adult who gets angry at a child.
Of course, I don't have the courage to do that.
First, we need to resolve this situation. What should I do first? Address the Corps members? Or Lirinel?
Okay, first, let's relieve the 0th Corps members who are maintaining a posture that looks like their backs are hurting.
"First of all, everyone raise their heads..."
Persuasion was quite difficult. The corps members were so persistent. It was only after saying it was okay several times that they straightened up and I could look at their faces.
I had to think seriously for a while about why I had to persuade them, but once I got over this uncomfortable atmosphere, if I was satisfied, it could be said to be a satisfactory result.
The reason for the apology was also quite absurd.
That incident when I was lucky enough to catch an intruder.
They say they bothered me because their skills aren't good enough or something like that.
When did that ever happen?
"..By the way, Lirinel?"
"Yes, Demon!"
"Why are you here...?"
"Ah, that's right! So.. I want to give you this."
Lirinel, who was looking this way with a somewhat bewildered expression, hurriedly rummaged through her pockets.
What she finally pulled out was a necklace similar to the one hanging around Ben's neck.
For a moment, I had a terrible thought that she had stolen something from Ben, but then I remembered that the thing on the string was a magic stone and nodded. Demons usually use magic stones by attaching them to necklaces.
But why give this to me?
"This will save you from instant death at least once."
"Thank you."
Let's not ask why. She says she will give it to me, but I have to take it. How dare you ask why a gift is given? It would be rude.
As soon as I put it around my neck, Lirinel smiled brightly.
She's cute too. What makes me think this is a Corps Commander? She's just a kid.
I stroked her head without realizing it. Then, the scarf around Lirinel's neck moved energetically.
'Ah... that was a tentacle.'
Two tentacles camouflaged around her neck like a scarf to reduce as much reluctance as possible from me as a human.
I watched it writhing excitedly with an indescribable expression, and then slowly withdrew my hand.
I turned around as if nothing had happened as best as I could, but the sight I saw when I turned around made my efforts go to waste.
'...What are you guys doing...?'
Before I knew it, the corps members were splitting on both sides and creating a road. And at the end, there was a horse traipsing with black hair flowing in the air, and Ed, a capable adjutant, waiting while holding the reins.
I froze in place again at this shocking scene.
A curse lingered in my mouth as if it's about to burst out at any moment.
'That's right, there was that... damn it.'
That's one of the reasons why I don't want to go out of the Demon King's Castle.
A horse looks cool, but has an appearance that you would never want to ride if you were asked to ride it.
The horses of the demon world are different from the horses of the human world, so they look scary from the start. It looked like someone would avoid it and run away if they entered war while riding it.
Their tempers are even dirtier!
If I get on top of that, I will definitely die.
Fall to my death, get stepped on to death, or get bitten to death. No matter what, that isn't right.
It's been about a year and a half since I survived all kinds of dangers in the Demon King's Castle.
The greatest challenge of all time was at hand.
***
"What is that?"
The Demon King, who was watching Deon through the window, frowned.
What a horse. These are not the words of the human world, but the ones of the demon world. The guy who was coughing up blood just a moment ago was supposed to ride something like that?
"Demon King? Is there a problem?"
"Nothing."
In response to Belitan's puzzled question, he shook my head left and right and looked out the window again.
Hewould like to see him off from the beginning until he left the Demon King's Castle, but the 0th Legion is not the only Corps that is going on a campaign, and a man whose title is the Demon King cannot show his favoritism openly even in an official setting such as a campaign.
But then he goes and tries to ride something so ignorantly with a body that could break at any moment.
That's what happens if you take your eyes off him even for a moment.
"Belitan."
"Yes."
"Do you have a communication stone?"
"Yes that's right."
"Is Ed's communication stone also engraved?"
"Yes."
"Okay, I'll borrow it for a while."
He took Belitan's communication stone and connected it to Ed's communication stone. He could have contacted Deon, but there was a reason why he didn't.
Even if he contacted him, he wouldn't answer.
It's not like he's ignoring the Demon King on purpose. If he carried the communication stone with him, it would be broken in no time, so he gave a direct order to keep it only in the room.
So even if he contacted him, he won't answer.
It was hardly an inconvenience.
He was usually confined to his room, and when he went out like now, his Deputy Commander, Ed, was always with him.
As a competent adjutant, Ed always carried a communication box with him.
It's still like that now.
"Yes, this is Ed, the commander of the 0th Corps."
"It's Caver."
"Ah, yes, Demon King. What's going on?"
"Are you out of your mind?"
"...Yes?"
Perhaps taken aback by the sudden reprimand, the answer came back a beat slower.
However, the Demon King seemed to have no intention of stopping his reprimand and began to push forward without hesitation.
"You want a human who doesn't know when he might vomit blood to ride a horse? And the horses of the demon world? Isn't it crazy to try to force a person in poor physical condition to travel such a long distance on horseback?"
"...Sorry."
When it came out like that, there was nothing more to say.
The Demon King was silent for a moment, feeling completely chilled as if cold water had been poured on his head.
In fact, this would be unfair from Ed's perspective.
Because Deon liked the horses of the demon world. Perhaps because there were no horses like that in the human world, he would often stare when he saw someone riding a horse.
So far, he hadn't said anything about wanting to ride or see a horse, but if he was so indifferent to everything and stared just at them, then he must have liked the horses quite a bit.
There's no way Ed, his adjutant, wouldn't know that... He probably thought it would be difficult to go against Deon's stubbornness, and prepared beforehand to avoid it. It was a long-awaited outing for a person who rarely goes out to the outside world. It would be natural for him to want to go riding a horse.
Convincing Deon wasn't easy.
The act of breaking the stubbornness itself is difficult. Even trying to slightly persuade him was a difficult task that required great determination.
He was like a time bomb that no one knows when it will explode.
As docile as he was normally, he was quite dangerous once he exploded, so they had no choice but to be careful.
Perhaps because he was human, the timing of his anger was different from that of demons, making it more difficult to determine.
Of course, it would have been easier to prepare quietly ahead of time than to persuade him.
"Anyway, that doesn't work. Get a carriage ready right now."
"Yes."
"I'll take care of persuasion."
"...Yes."
It seemed like the answer was somewhat late, but the Demon King pretended not to notice and looked away. In the end, he had no wish to incur Deon's anger or hatred.