Chapter 2: The Demon King’s Strongest Card

Only then could I grasp the situation.

This damn body! Of all places to cough up blood! Damn it!

I could see documents stained with blood. And the Demon King, using his hand to catch my blood… holy crap.

‘It was a dirty life.’

Leaving a brief mental will, I hastily covered my mouth and moved away from the desk.

Too late; the documents were already soiled, the Demon King’s hand stained with my blood. As expected, I heard a ‘gnash’ as he ground his teeth, clearly angered.

The killing intent that pierced my entire body made me swallow the scream that instinctively tried to escape, and I forced my mouth open.

“I apologize. The documents…”

“That’s not the point right now! The court physician! Bring the 0th Legion Commander’s court physician here immediately!! The patient is in pain, where the hell is he?!”

……Huh?

My brain froze at the unexpected turn of events.

After a moment, my mind barely managed to conjure up an alternative explanation.

Ah, he’s angry at the court physician.

In short: I caused this accident because I’m sick. That means the court physician didn’t do his job properly, which in turn means the reason I caused the accident is because of the court physician.

So, instead of punishing me, he’s going to punish the court physician, right?

If that’s the case, where will the resentment of the court physician, who was suddenly struck by lightning, go?

This is the Demon King’s castle. Reminding myself that the court physician is also a demon, I sat down in my spot with a resigned expression.

Shit, I’m screwed.

***

“The patient is in pain, where the hell is he?!”

Overwhelming demonic energy swept through the entire castle.

It was obvious who the owner of this thick, heavy demonic energy was. Ben, the court physician, braced himself for death and hurriedly grabbed his medical bag.

The subordinate whom the Demon King cared for so deeply could only be his charge, the proud Commander of the 0th Legion, Demon.

Sure enough, when he arrived at the Demon King’s office, he saw Demon sitting on the bare floor, covering his mouth. The droplets falling beneath his hand were unmistakably blood.

The office carpet was a mess because of it, but Ben approached him without hesitation, knowing the Demon King wouldn’t care about such things.

It seemed his legs had given way; he showed no sign of getting up. Ben quickly supported him and helped him onto the sofa, silently berating himself.

Failing to appear immediately when the patient was in pain was a disqualification for a court physician. If Demon-nim was enraged and decided to snap his neck, he would have no excuse.

Before that, though, he needed to help him recover.

He held up three fingers.

First, check his consciousness.

“Demon-nim, can you hear me? How many fingers do you see?”

“Three.”

Consciousness normal, vision normal.

Everyone in the Demon King’s castle knew why Demon-nim was like this. There was no way they wouldn’t know.

Because everyone had seen it clearly.

The figure of him stopping a hero trying to self-destruct with nothing but a human body.

And on top of that, the scene where he ended the hero’s life with a casual gesture.

Having taken the brunt of the hero’s self-destruction entirely on his own, it was only natural his body was damaged.

So, was he underestimating him?

‘Not a chance.’

Being physically weakened was separate from combat ability. Any other nobody, maybe, but not this man. He could probably take his life right now if he wanted to. And he wouldn’t know he was dead until after he was gone.

Even as blood poured from him, his eyes were vividly alive.

His red eyes were like newly spilled blood forming into a perfect circle. Those eyes, more prominent against his snow-white hair, held genuine ‘death’ within them.

Eyes that could only belong to someone who had killed countless others and witnessed countless deaths. How could he dare to underestimate him?

Forcing down the rising fear and awe, Ben calmly spoke.

“As you might have expected, it’s an aftereffect.”

A look of resignation flashed across the Demon King’s face, as if he had anticipated this. He too fell silent for a moment, a touch of bitterness in his expression. However, Demon-nim himself was different.

His expression was as if he didn’t even care. No, that was definitely a look of boredom.

Because he’d heard it too many times. He’d heard it to the point of being sick of it.

As if it was nothing new, he pressed the handkerchief given to him by the Demon King to his lips and sank deeper into the sofa.

Faced with his attitude, bordering on resignation or even enlightenment, both Ben and the Demon King were at a loss for words.

‘How can he be so composed?’

If it were any of the other corps commanders, there would have been an uproar a long time ago.

They would have drawn their swords, thrown punches, or quietly threatened him. Their eyes would have blazed with killing intent, demanding he fix it no matter what.

Isn’t that your job?

Isn’t that the reason for your existence?

The thought made a sigh escape his lips, a sigh closer to relief than frustration or anger.

Unconsciously, Ben was thinking he was truly fortunate to be the 0th Legion Commander’s physician.

‘No, this isn’t the time for this.’

He immediately shook off his thoughts, and after organizing his emotions, he quickly rummaged through his medical bag.

“This medicine, as always, will help with internal injuries. I apologize that this is all I can do.”

“Thank you.”

Ben watched Demon-nim receive the medicine and even saw him take it before slowly closing and opening his eyes.

Well, having finished his task, the unavoidable moment was approaching.

From the moment he arrived, the Demon King had been giving off a ‘you and I need to talk’ vibe. Knowing that the price of ignoring him was death, he cautiously rose from his seat and faced the Demon King.

He didn’t have any particular complaints. He wasn’t wronged either. His failure to react quickly to the patient’s condition was clearly his fault.

Demon-nim was probably also angry, or at least displeased by it.

Therefore, he was prepared to first receive the Demon King’s anger, and then, if he survived, endure Demon-nim’s anger as well. But then Demon-nim, the one who should be the angriest, stepped in.

……Why?

***

The Demon King is about to punish the court physician!

I reflexively jumped up from my seat and grabbed Ben’s wrist.

Ben looked at me with wide eyes, startled. The Demon King was also looking at me, his eyes equally wide with surprise.

Surprised? I was too. But I had no choice.

If he punished the court physician like this, all that resentment would be directed at me. No matter how mild-mannered Ben might be usually, he would naturally be furious if he was scolded for something that wasn’t his fault.

It would be too late then.

I have to stop it to survive!

With that resolve, I spoke first, addressing the Demon King who was still speechless.

“I’m not feeling well, so I’ll take my leave. Of course, my court physician will come with me. Unfortunately, we’ll have to postpone the resignation discussion for later.”

“Oh, uh? Resign…? No, okay, I understand. Go and rest.”

He clearly didn’t want to talk about the resignation, brushing it off again in his usual vague manner.

I’ll definitely bring it up next time! For now, the timing is bad, I thought to myself as I strode out of the office.

I don’t know how long we walked.

When we stopped, we were in the middle of a rather long corridor.

Since there were many corridors, I glanced out the window to get my bearings.

As expected of the Demon Realm without a sun, a veil of night covered the garden outside the corridor window. Instead of the sun, three moons occupied the sky, softly illuminating the garden.

Looking at just this, you might think the scenery is quite beautiful, but look over there. What kind of flower has teeth? They call them man-eating plants, right? And the plant next to it has eyeballs. And they’re blinking!

I shuddered at the disgusting sight when a faint voice came from beside me.

“Um, Demon-nim….”

“Hmm? ……Ah.”

Come to think of it, I was still holding his wrist. I was so out of it I hadn’t even realized.

I quietly let go of his hand and subtly checked Ben’s reaction. He wasn’t upset, was he?

Fortunately, his face didn’t show any signs of displeasure. Instead, what caught my eye was his complexion, as pale as my own.

He also seemed restless….

“Are you feeling unwell?”

“No, it’s just….”

A look of resignation appeared on his face.

Genuinely worried if he was actually sick, I looked at him with concern, and he inhaled sharply.

Ben’s pale lips trembled, and then he bit his lip tightly, as if steeling himself for something, before bowing deeply.

“Though it is presumptuous of me to ask, I humbly request that you grant me a painless death!”

“…Huh?”

For a moment, I even forgot to manage my expression. My face probably wore a blatant look of bewilderment right now. My dumbfounded voice was just a bonus.

It’s a good thing he’s bowing. Judging by his stillness, he probably didn’t hear my voice either.

I quickly regained my composure and cleared my throat.

I couldn’t exactly ask directly, ‘What the hell are you talking about?’, so I rephrased it slightly….

“What do you mean by that?”

“Ah… no, it’s nothing. I misspoke. I apologize!”

I asked kindly, but he was even more terrified.

Is he really sick? They say a barber can’t cut their own hair, but what’s a patient to do when their physician is sick?

Especially when that physician is my physician.

A wave of anxiety washed over me at the thought of entrusting my health to him, and I sighed softly.

“I won’t kill you.”

I don’t know what’s going on, but I won’t kill him. No, I can’t kill him.

If I had the ability to kill demons, I would have abandoned my role as a corps commander and escaped long ago. Why would I live here with my heart in my throat?

The realization of my pathetic situation made me sigh again.

With a gloomy heart, I left the dumbfounded Ben behind and trudged towards my room.

***

Contrary to appearances, everyone knows that Demon-nim is the most generous of all the corps commanders. But who would have thought he would protect even someone who hadn’t fulfilled their duty?

No, it seems he doesn’t even think I failed to fulfill my duty.

Is it because he’s from a human background? His way of thinking is so different from demons that I can’t understand his standards at all.

But still, how bewildered must he have been when I suddenly asked him to kill me painlessly? So much so that he, who usually uses polite language, even blurted out “Huh?” in informal speech.

But there’s a reason why I misunderstood. The other corps commanders, if they had saved me, it would have been because ‘I need to kill him with my own hands to feel satisfied’.

Anyway, it would have been better if I had stopped talking right then and there. Unfortunately, I was too dense to realize I had made him uncomfortable and even apologized. I put him in an awkward position.

In a situation where he could have backhanded me, Demon-nim instead let out a faint sigh and said,

[I won’t kill you.]

Frankly, it was shocking. Wasn’t this going too far with generosity?

I was always proud of being his court physician, but I had never been as proud as I was today. I think I’ll go visit Setter, the official court physician for the corps commanders, with a bottle of wine today.

I can already picture him clutching the back of his neck in envy, having to deal with the usually ill-tempered corps commanders.

Of course, there are things I need to do before that.

‘So that the same thing doesn’t happen again….’

Ben’s eyes narrowed slightly as he recalled the pitiful figure of his charge, Demon Arute, dripping with blood.