Chapter 197: Not Just an Ordinary Hallucination

1: This isn’t just some run-of-the-mill hallucination.

To have this kind of phenomenon after that dream… Wasn’t this what hyung was trying to prevent in my dream?

Deon, who had been staring blankly at his feet, frowned as a sudden thought struck him.

“Could it be… is this the Duke’s curse?”

This was the first sleep he’d had since the Duke cast the curse. The Duke had squeezed out every last drop of his remaining magic to cast it, so there was no way it would have no effect. And to encounter this phenomenon at such a coincidental time, suspicion was inevitable.

It might be a stretch… but if, just if, that unidentified liquid from the dream was the curse….

“Damn it.”

…Then hyung had been trying to protect me from the Duke even in death.

These perfectly fitting assumptions made a curse escape his lips. Feeling breathless again, Deon rummaged through his pouch for a cigarette.

Lighting it, he pleaded and pleaded.

‘Please, let it not be true.’

I just wish this is all just my ridiculous overthinking.

It wasn’t for nothing that I felt terror back then when I realized my opponent was hyung. Deon wasn’t ready to face Cruel. More accurately, he wasn’t ready to face Cruel who ‘wouldn’t resent’ him.

He would feel more at ease if Cruel poured out resentment towards him. But Deon knew well that someone who sacrificed himself wouldn’t resent the person he tried to protect.

‘Even I can’t forgive myself.’

How miserable would he feel if he heard from the other person that he was already forgiven, or that there was nothing to forgive?

Miserable, and I’d hate myself even more, and in the end, I’d end up hating myself with your share of hatred too. Maybe I wouldn’t be able to control my emotions and end up holding a knife to my own throat.

…So, hyung.

Deon lowered his head.

‘Please don’t do that.’

I don’t mind being plagued by nightmares. I don’t even care about being exposed to the curse.

What’s more painful is your intervention. So please, don’t keep expressing to me that you don’t resent me in this way.

….

He seemed to have stood there for quite a while. The emotions that had been erupting haphazardly since he woke up gradually settled down, and as his consciousness, steeped in crushed despair, slowly resurfaced, Deon noticed a sound from outside.

‘…Sound?’

At this hour, outside?

Surely, according to the request he made when he first joined the Demon King’s army, this room should be in the most secluded place. Because the room used to be a warehouse that was gutted, no one stays above or below. There is a public training ground below the window, but thanks to the loud commotion of gutting the warehouse room using magic, rumors spread that the 0th Legion Commander hates commotion, and no one comes here.

In the first place, there’s no reason for anyone to come.

‘This is a bit unexpected.’

It’s called a public training ground, but it’s abandoned because no one uses it.

Those residing in the inner section are the Demon King, legion commanders, high-ranking officials including legion members, and servants. Legion commanders and legion members have their own training grounds, so they don’t use the public training ground, and servants have a public training ground in the outer section, so they wouldn’t want to cause a commotion in the inner section and get on the bad side of the picky, sensitive, and ill-tempered higher-ups.

Of course, it’s unlikely that no demons ever used it, and I expect that occasionally one or two servants secretly visited for training or used it as a place for secret meetings… Anyway, no one has come since I received this room.

‘…Ah, it got new owners recently.’

Deon let out a short exclamation as the belated fact came to mind.

Mad dogs. It became their private training ground.

Having been away from those guys in the Human Realm for a long time, he had temporarily forgotten their existence.

‘What are they up to again?’

Don’t these guys sleep? He put out the cigarette that was barely burning with only embers left by searing it on his neck and moved his steps to the window. With each step he took, the puddle of blood under his feet splashed, asserting its presence, but he ignored it.

Reaching out his hand to open the window, he paused momentarily at the vase that came into view. More precisely, he noticed something different about the flower in the vase. Deon withdrew his outstretched hand and bent down, bringing his face closer to the flower.

“What is it? It was definitely… fine until Dan changed the water, I think.”

Why is it wilting a little now?

It wasn’t a mistake or a misperception. The flower, which had seemed like it would always be vibrant, was slightly wilted.

Not much time had passed, only enough time to fall asleep and wake up.

“It’s really unpredictable.”

Should I think it’s amazing that it’s lasted this long?

After briefly examining the flower petals whose edges had darkened and withered a little, he soon shifted his gaze and opened the window. That’s not important now. He needs to check what the mad dogs have been up to and are up to.

‘Come to think of it, it’s even more suspicious that there hasn’t been any commotion while I was away.’

There’s no way those guys would be quiet. They must have done something and are hiding it.

Cool air flows in through the open window. Along with it, the faint sound becomes clearer….

“Waaaaah!”

…A baby crying?

“Shh, shh! You can’t cry! We’ll be in big trouble if we get caught like this. Be good, okay? Stop crying!”

“It’s not just you who dies, we all die together…! So stop crying! Peek-a-boo!”

“Bawwaaaaaa!”

“Agh! My ears!”

“It’s crying even more because of your dirty face! Get your face away! Quick!”

Ha.

Deon, who had been standing blankly, unable to grasp the situation, seemed to regain his senses a little and leaned his upper body against the window frame. A look of contempt was clearly directed at the source of the commotion.

“What are you guys doing…?”

Why are they acting like nannies when I wasn’t looking?

“Ah, Captain!”

“You’re awake!”

“Long time no see!”

“Bawwaaaaaa!”

“Oops, stop!”

This is chaos, utter chaos.

The fools are waving their hands, unable to grasp the situation, the baby is crying as if to show off, and they are belatedly realizing this and scrambling to take care of it. Deon, letting out another hollow laugh at the absurd sight, placed his foot on the windowsill.

Those who had been waving their arms in the air froze at the unexpected action.

“Hey, that….”

“Uh… uh…?”

“W-Wait, Captain!”

“Calm down! Life is beautiful… not really! Life is precious… if it is, we’ll be in trouble! Captain is valuable… I feel like the Captain will hate this word, damn it!”

“…What are you even saying.”

Demon King’s castle is befitting of a castle, the ceilings are high, and the distance between floors is wide. Even the 2nd floor is taller than the 3rd floor of a normal building, let alone Deon’s room on the 4th floor.

Jumping from there is tantamount to suicide. It was natural for them to be horrified that their captain, of all people, was taking a stance to jump.

Deon, clicking his tongue with plenty of exasperation at the untimely fuss, jumped down anyway.

“Waaaaaaaah!”

“Catch him! Catch him!”

“Oh no, our Captain! You’re really going to throw your life away!”

“At least live a little longer until we die!”

They should know that colliding with a person falling from this height is likely to kill them, but whether they have any sense or not, they are all rushing to catch him.

Seeing that, Deon frowned and twisted his body in mid-air. He gracefully evaded Milan, who was stretching out his arms to catch him, and landed lightly on the empty ground. Relief sighs erupted from here and there, but only for a moment.

“Ah, please don’t make people’s hearts drop like that!”

A roar erupted.

At the same time, the baby’s crying, which had barely stopped, burst out again as well.

“Hwaaaaaaa!”

“Ah, right.”

“Hey, you….”

“Sorry.”

Kleter, who had been glaring at the guy scratching his head, sighed.

No matter how much more he says, he’ll forget soon anyway and make a commotion again. Only the baby’s courage is being trained. Grinding his teeth, he moved to a place a little away from them while holding the baby.

Deon, watching the scene, tilted his head.

“Is that Kleter’s baby? When did he even have a baby? Is he recovering well?”

“Captain… it’s good that you’re unbiased, but men can’t have babies. And it’s not Kleter’s baby either.”

“No, in the Demon Realm, it doesn’t seem impossible.”

“That’s…! No, Captain! Why did you jump out of the window when there are perfectly good stairs! How dangerous!”

I almost went along with it.

He was about to subtly gloss over an important issue. Deon, who had sharply opened his eyes, paused for a moment as Milan, who saw Deon’s face up close, blankly loosened his expression as if surprised. The sharply narrowed eyes were nowhere to be seen, and his rounded eyes turned to Deon.

“Guys, the Captain’s face is glowing… are my eyes playing tricks on me?”

“What nonsense… Huh? Captain, what on earth did you do to your face? There’s even a halo….”

“What do you mean, the Captain’s face is glowing?”

Instantly, the knight order members swarmed around.

Deon sighed at the familiar and tiresome sight, but regardless, those who approached closely to examine Deon’s face let out quiet exclamations. The guy who had been scrutinizing him most closely in the front stroked his chin and began to speak.

“How should I put it… It doesn’t seem like your face has changed much….”

“You already looked like you could make quite a few women cry… but now it looks like you could make the entire continent cry?”

“No, continent? What are you talking about? It looks like you could make all races cry.”

“So, Captain. What did you do to your face?”

Deon frowned, watching them add one word each to a pointless topic.

“…What did I do. It’s just that I became a Hero, so stop with that….”

“Hero?!”

“No way, our Captain is a Hero?”

“Crazy, crazy. Choosing the Captain. Heaven must be out of its mind.”

“But I like it.”

“I do like it…. Because we can worry less about the Captain in the future.”

“So that’s why you jumped. Because you were confident you wouldn’t get hurt.”

“Still, please refrain from doing that! I thought my heart was going to stop!”

This will never end.

Deon snapped his fingers to gather attention and pointed to the baby Kleter was holding on one side.

“So whose baby is that?”

“Ah, it’s not our baby… another demon entrusted it to us.”

…Demon?

He turned his head back to look at the baby.

“No matter how I look at it, it looks human… a demon entrusted a human baby to you?”

“Yes, we also thought he was a rather unique demon.”

“He went out to get baby food right now.”

A unique demon who picked up a human baby and is raising it. There was a guy who immediately came to mind, and Deon frowned.

No matter how much he thought about it, there was only one such demon.

“…5th Corps Commander?”

!

“Correct.”

And he seems to be back.

Red eyes fixed their gaze beyond the crowd. Guys who were good at reading the room moved aside, parting the crowd, and Deon could easily face Oel and Derniban standing at the end.

Oel, who had been standing still without even blinking as if frozen, belatedly wiggled his fingers and stammered, opening his mouth.

“U-Uh… Sir Deon….”

Looking around nervously like a child caught doing wrong. Who would call this figure a legion commander?

As if realizing that leaving it like this would only tarnish the legion commander’s dignity, Derniban, the adjutant, who was holding baby food ingredients in one hand, stepped forward instead.

“Sir Deon.”

As if to say, ‘Go ahead and say it,’ Deon tilted his head and crossed his arms. Narrowed eyes captured him, but he calmly began to speak without wavering.

“Regarding secretly bringing in a human baby….”

“I’m not interested in that.”

…….

He’s always been taciturn, but it seems he has some sense of the situation. He immediately brought up something else.

“…I apologize for arbitrarily assigning work to your direct knight order.”

“So you are aware.”