Chapter 127: Tightrope Walking

Their gazes shifted, landing on the only human remaining. Great, of course it’s me.

“……”

“……”

What’s with the silence?

Their expressions as they look at me are strange, unreadable.

It felt odd to jump in and defend myself, so I waited for them to speak. Meanwhile, the fairy who had left to fetch the brown liquid returned and dropped it in front of the Fairy King.

“I’ve brought it.”

“Is this it…?”

A familiar scent tickled my nose.

This is…

“It smells like coffee.”

“Coffee?”

Sniffing again confirmed it was coffee. A strangely familiar coffee aroma.

But even if it is coffee, that’s weird. Coffee might wake you up, but it doesn’t make monsters mutate… does it?

‘I’d have to feed coffee to a monster to know for sure.’

The Fairy King provided the answer.

“They said the monsters got stronger after drinking this, so it can’t be coffee. Where did you find it?”

“I collected it from the monsters’ mouths. I wanted to find the source, but the trail led into the demon territory, so I couldn’t follow it.”

“Our territory?”

So the wide-range magic thing was real. There’s no other way he could have gotten here so fast.

The Demon King examined the unidentified liquid without a hint of fatigue, looking as composed as if he’d just returned from a leisurely stroll, not a battle with monsters. His initial interest soon faded, replaced by a scoff of amusement.

“Looks like someone wants to frame our race. Go ahead and find the source, I permit it.”

I’m curious who the culprit is.

His voice was a low, threatening growl. The Fairy King stared at him for a moment before retorting,

“Did you hear that?”

“Yes.”

He’s a busy guy….

I watched the departing fairy with pity before lowering my gaze. I met the eyes of the two race leaders.

……?!

“This human has no reason to do such a thing, right?”

“That’s right.”

“But if we only consider ‘reasons,’ then there’s no culprit at all.”

“That’s also true.”

The atmosphere was getting strange.

It felt like they were going through each reason, then overturning it and starting the suspicion from scratch. And it seemed I was the starting point.

“This human is special, but that’s separate from removing him from suspicion.”

“That’s right.”

What? Are they suspecting me now?

Unable to understand the situation, I remained silent while the Demon King frowned in displeasure and stepped forward.

“Hold on, are you suspecting Demon?”

Lord Demon King…!

He stated firmly, clearly annoyed that I was being suspected.

“It’s not Demon.”

“How can you be so sure….”

“When you asked if he was trustworthy before, I answered, ‘As long as he’s here,’ he’s completely reliable. He’s here now, by my side. You can trust him.”

I didn’t understand their previous conversation, but I knew he was defending me.

Frankly, I was a little touched. I was looking at the Demon King with new eyes when the fairy reappeared, holding a familiar-looking water bottle.

…Huh? Wait a minute.

‘Why are you holding that?’

It’s the restorative medicine… bottle… Rememver gave me when I came to the Demon Realm….

I quickly grasped the situation.

‘Crap, I’m screwed.’

I’m the cause? What on earth did the court physician make?

I’d love to discuss the court physician’s alchemy skills… no, potion-making skills, but now’s not the time. The immediate thought should be about finding a painless way to die… maybe.

While I was half out of my mind from the shocking truth, the merciless fairy politely presented the bottle and spoke immediately.

“This was found at the entrance of an unnamed mountain range west of the demon territory. There were several bottles, but I thought one would be enough, so I only brought this one.”

“The smell is a perfect coffee scent. Was it deliberately disguised? Whoever it is, they’re very meticulous… Demon King? What’s with that expression?”

“No… it’s nothing….”

The Demon King seemed to have realized it too.

Finding this bottle in a demon realm mountain range, even an ‘unnamed mountain range,’ but with a direction provided, it wouldn’t be impossible to deduce.

He raised his hand and gently placed it on my shoulder. I glanced up to see the corner of his mouth raised slightly, stiffer than usual.

“Anyway, he’s not the culprit… so don’t go around suspecting him. We should be going.”

“Without resolving this incident?”

“I have a legion commander meeting soon. We’ll discuss this matter separately later. Now, if you’ll excuse us.”

“Wait…!”

My vision blurred.

Back in the central garden of the Demon King’s castle, I quietly looked up at the Demon King.

It’s not my place to say this given the situation I caused, but… I felt I had to.

“You… left Hien behind.”

“Ah.”

***

I should reduce my magic usage, but was it necessary to bring him along?

The thought crossed my mind briefly, but there was no other choice. Either way, Hien was a skilled gardener who oversaw almost all the plants in the Demon King’s castle. Without him, managing the plants would be quite troublesome.

“My Lord?”

“…Right, I need to bring him. Wait a moment.”

Actually, the magic use was an excuse. The Demon King sighed inwardly, knowing exactly how the Fairy King would look at him.

I’m so flustered. I can’t remember the last time I was this flustered. It must have been decades.

He looked at the source of his emotional turmoil with admiration before using the magically linked central garden as a medium to teleport back.

“…Excuse me.”

Ignoring the Fairy King’s bewildered expression, he snatched the bewildered gardener and returned to the garden. He still seemed dazed, but as a demon who had survived long in the Demon King’s castle, he quickly gathered his wits and scurried away.

Watching the gardener’s retreating back, the Demon King turned his gaze to Deon, who was still standing still. As if aware of his mistake, Deon’s fingertips twitched slightly.

“…Deon Hart.”

“……”

“……”

“……”

There were many things he wanted to say, but few he could.

If he said the wrong thing, the man walking the tightrope might choose a side and step off on his own. The Demon King, waiting below with open arms for him to fall, couldn’t speak carelessly.

“…I have a general idea of the situation, but it’s best to be sure.”

“……”

“First… that medicine, you brought it with you, right?”

“Yes.”

“It was for your health.”

A weakened body riddled with aftereffects.

“That’s right.”

“Probably made by another human.”

The aftereffects were called aftereffects for a reason.

Deon Hart’s body couldn’t be healed by normal means. So Deon wouldn’t have asked for the medicine himself. Someone must have forced it on him.

As expected, Deon nodded in affirmation. The Demon King continued to lay out his assumptions.

“The reason you threw it away after coming here was also because they forced it on you, right?”

“Yes.”

“To just throw away such dangerous medicine… no, never mind. You wouldn’t have known.”

He wouldn’t have felt much of an effect even if he had taken it.

More importantly, he should focus on the human who made that medicine. What was their identity? Judging by its effects, it was made with an almost obsessive desire to heal Deon Hart’s body… no, beyond obsession, a desperate resolve as if their life depended on it.

‘Did some human actually succeed in the alchemy they only ever talked about?’

The fleeting hint of unease on his smiling face vanished as quickly as it appeared.

As if nothing had happened, the Demon King put on a gentle expression and took a step closer, placing a hand on Deon’s shoulder. It wasn’t a forceful grip, but a light touch meant to reassure him.

“Alright, if it wasn’t intentional, then it’s fine.”

“…!”

“You must have been surprised too. Go inside and rest.”

“The legion commander meeting….”

“Ah, has it gotten this late already…? It’s hard to take back what I’ve already said… you can skip it.”

Not an order to skip, but permission to do so.

He hadn’t explicitly forbidden him from attending, so if he skipped the meeting, it would be his own decision, and he wouldn’t be breaking the game’s rules.

‘Has it gotten this late already… my foot.’

He knew, and he said it on purpose.

If his half-contractor was a snake, then the Demon King was a millennia-old serpent, a dragon in waiting. Having subtly narrowed the path to attending the meeting, thus reducing information leaks, the Demon King grinned.

“Ah, if resting here isn’t enough, and you miss the daylight, you can always go to the human realm.”

The location tracking mark was still clearly imprinted.

Moreover, he’d gained points for his handling of this incident, so sending him to the Empire wouldn’t be a problem right now.

‘The Demon Realm and the Human Realm are at war, yet individuals holding high positions in both factions are traveling between them….’

How interesting.

Knowing that Deon Hart’s return to the Empire would signal the start of a full-scale war, the Demon King nonchalantly raised his other hand and placed it on Deon’s other shoulder. The Demon King’s signature reverse-colored eyes met his red ones.

“But please, try not to bring back things like medicine. And even if you do… don’t just throw them away. Yes, it would be best to bring them directly to me.”

“…Yes.”

***

The talk about medicine quickly cooled my enthusiasm.

‘He said I can skip the meeting….’

What a terrifying offer!

Did he think I’d blindly accept? I’m not a clueless idiot. I knew that if I readily agreed to skip the meeting, it wouldn’t end well for me.

‘I’m not just living for today; I need to think about the future.’

My conscience already pricked me for lazing around without doing any work; I couldn’t skip this too. So, I would definitely attend.

This was a matter of life and death, broadly speaking. I participated in the meeting with the burning passion of a fresh recruit who had just gotten a job….

And regretted it.

‘Right, if they held a meeting in the current situation, this would obviously be the topic.’

The war with the Empire.

…Forget passion. I should just stay quiet.

From now on, I am a pill bug. I lowered my gaze silently, hoping to avoid the Demon King’s attention as much as possible.

***

Deon Hart wasn’t stupid. After all, he was a human walking a tightrope between the Demon King and the Emperor; he couldn’t be stupid. If he were, he would have died long ago.

The Demon King, perched on the highest seat with his chin resting on his hand, watched Deon, who had stubbornly attended the meeting, a subtle smile playing on his lips.

‘He noticed.’

Deon Hart had seen through the Demon King’s intention to prevent information leaks and had insisted on attending the meeting. The evidence was his current behavior: participating in the meeting but keeping a low profile, eyes lowered as if uninterested. He was keeping his mouth shut and his ears open, focusing on the information being exchanged.

Well, in reality, he had no choice but to participate. He couldn’t return to the Empire without any information.

In this precarious situation where he would soon have to choose a side, what would happen if he returned to the Emperor with nothing to report?

‘The Emperor would become suspicious.’

Both rulers were in a sensitive period, their attention focused on Deon Hart’s actions. In such a situation, suspicion could directly lead to death, so from Deon Hart’s perspective, he needed to obtain something to answer the Emperor’s questions to survive.

‘So, he’ll maintain neutrality for now.’

The Emperor wouldn’t just sit back and watch; how long could he keep this up?

The Demon King had never been pressed for time, so he was still relaxed in the current situation, but the human Emperor wasn’t. He was likely holding back for fear of negatively impacting Deon Hart’s choice, but ultimately, it was human patience. The Demon King was certain that the Emperor would soon pressure Deon Hart again.

And that pressure would include the option of death.

Join his side, or die.

‘And feeling the pressure, Deon Hart will come to me.’

The mask he wore was for that moment. He watched Deon Hart turn his head in response to his gaze and smiled knowingly as their eyes met.

“Now then, let’s begin the meeting. I believe you all know the topic?”