Chapter 200: Annoying Demons

“We should keep making sure he eats regularly, just like now, and encourage him to take short walks. Maybe a gift to spark some motivation, like that friend suggested, would also help.”

Looks like that was a bust, unfortunately.

Ben gestured with his chin towards the puzzle sitting untouched on the table, muttering a few complaints under his breath before getting up.

“Anyway, it’s going to take a lot of effort.”

…….

It must have been around then.

That’s when the damned demons started getting on my nerves.

‘Damn bastards.’

Even when he was lying down, Dan would forcibly pull me up when it was mealtime. Well, I could tolerate that. After all, I had to eat to live.

The diet being a bit burdensome was also fine. Setting aside the mental burden, the food was delicious and varied, as the chef clearly put a lot of effort into making it.

The mad dogs taking shifts and coming in groups was also bearable. They were only here for me anyway. Since they had nowhere else to rely on, it was right for me, as their guardian, to be generous and accept them.

But this? This was not okay.

“Sir Deon, how about a stroll in the garden? It’s been a while.”

“…….”

How do you think it would be?

In the heart of a bizarre garden veiled in moonlight, Deon glanced sideways. At the edge of his vision, a plant with eyes twitched its leaves menacingly, as if itching for a fight.

He stared back at the eyes glaring at him before reaching out his hand to Hien.

“Torch.”

“Yes? Ah, yes!”

Hien was momentarily confused because Deon used to always carry the torch himself.

Puzzled as to why I was suddenly asking him for a torch, Hien belatedly realized he was holding it and quickly offered it. Deon took the torch and strode towards the eye-plant. It was then I noticed the menacingly swaying leaves also had mouths.

“D-Deon-nim…?”

The mouths on the leaves snapped at me, trying to bite. Deon ripped one off, leaf and all, and tossed it to the ground. Then, holding up the torch in his other hand, he brought it close. A sizzling sound filled the air.

“You asked how I felt?”

“…….”

“Annoying as hell, and irritating. So, I’d appreciate it if you stopped suggesting these garden strolls.”

How could I possibly feel good when you bring nerve-wracking plants to someone already tired and unwilling to do anything?

Hien flinched at the dry tone and shifted his gaze beyond Deon. There, a ‘eyeless’ plant was withering powerlessly.

Ordinary people would have been intimidated at this point and wouldn’t have dared to come near, but… Hien’s endlessly optimistic mindset, when it came to Deon Hart, shone unnecessarily brightly.

‘…He must miss the flowers from the Human Realm!’

As luck would have it, there was something suitable.

As if he had never trembled, Hien plastered a bright smile on his face.

“If a walk meant to refresh and invigorate you only makes you feel worse, that’s a problem. I actually have a gift I wanted to give you, so how about we head back inside?”

“…Gift?”

It’s probably going to be another carnivorous plant.

Deon frowned slightly, but the desire to return to his room and lie down was stronger, so instead of making pointless objections, he turned around without a word.

Arriving back in his room, instead of immediately collapsing onto his longed-for bed, Deon sat on the sofa to acknowledge Hien’s sincerity and waited for him to bring the gift.

He regretted it.

“Screeeech.”

“Get out.”

I knew it. It was a carnivorous plant.

The plant I’d seen before waved its stem, like it was greeting me. I wasn’t in the mood for any more of that, so I sent Hien away and flopped onto the bed.

Forced to take an unwanted walk and see unwanted plants, I’d only wasted my energy. Too tired to even think, I raised my arm to shield my eyes for a moment before slowly lowering it.

‘…Seriously.’

They just wouldn’t give me a moment to rest.

Crimson eyes flicked sideways, settling on the dagger embedded in the wall beside his head. Familiar with this situation, he casually called out his visitor’s name.

“Develania.”

“Yes, Sir Deon.”

Deon sighed inwardly and sat up.

There was no surprise in his expression. He already knew.

There was no malice, and he knew the dagger wasn’t aimed at him, so he remained still. If he had sensed even a hint of killing intent, the dagger would have changed course in Deon’s hand and targeted Develania’s neck instead of the bed.

He pulled out the dagger cleanly embedded in the bed and twirled it in his fingers as he asked,

“Your arrival like this means you’ve accomplished the task I assigned, am I right to assume?”

The order to find Cruel Hart’s body.

Develania immediately let out a groan.

“I knew you’d react like this, that’s why I almost didn’t come…”

“……Still not done, I see.”

“I apologize. But we are doing our best to find it, even mobilizing legion members. We will find it soon.”

“Hmm.”

For me, even now is already too late. A dissatisfied murmur filled the room.

The dagger danced through his fingers. Deon played with the dagger a few more times before breaking the strange tension with a delayed question.

“I’m not planning to just wait around. Write a report detailing how far you’ve investigated and tracked it down, and send it to me.”

“Yes…”

Develania, who had come for nothing and ended up with more work, looked crestfallen. Deon ignored it and asked,

“Then, what’s the reason you’re here?”

“When I heard you’d become a Hero, how could I possibly stay away?”

She was just too curious.

Demons, in general, don’t have much patience, especially legion commanders who don’t really need to endure anything. Even Develania, whose main mission was infiltration and was comparatively patient, couldn’t suppress her curiosity in this matter.

‘If there’s any legion commander who hasn’t come to see Sir Deon yet, it’s either because they are extremely busy or not close enough to him to worry about offending him.’

The hand twirling the dagger stopped abruptly.

Deon raised his head with a blank expression. The moment Develania tilted her head, sensing the unfathomable depths in his eyes…

Whoosh— Something whizzed past her face.

“……!”

“So.”

Develania’s eyes widened.

Regardless of her frozen state, Deon, still in the posture of throwing the dagger, creased his eyes languidly and smiled.

“Now that you’ve seen me as a Hero, what are your thoughts?”

“…….”

Drip.

Belatedly, a thin line appeared on her cheek, and blood trickled down.

Ha, she chuckled.

“…Now I kind of understand Sillua’s obsession.”

That madwoman, the Commander of the 7th Corps, who’s always brandishing daggers, I understand her a little now.

You’re so damn sexy, it’s no wonder she’s obsessed with seeing you again, even if it means sacrificing innocent servants. And now you’re even more handsome and laid-back… she must be going insane with desire.

‘Though I’m not like her.’

The shock was fleeting. Develania quickly regained her composure and changed the subject from the pointless conversation.

“I heard you’ve completely given up on work?”

“Just taking a break. It’s not like I’ve quit.”

“It seems like a very long break for just ‘a break’…”

“It hasn’t even been months, it’s only been ten days and a day, aren’t you all being a bit impatient? Surely the legion commanders aren’t that incompetent.”

She was speechless.

But it was understandable that the legion commanders couldn’t adapt to this sudden change when the person who used to rush around as if the world would end if he rested even for a day was suddenly acting so lazy. Always meddling in everything, personally taking charge of every little detail, and now this.

Leaving the speechless Develania behind, Deon fiddled with his lips before rummaging through his pocket and taking out a cigarette.

“Then, stop bothering me and be on your way. I’m tired.”

“As far as I know, all you’ve done today is…”

“If you have time to spare, should I give you an additional task?”

“My apologies. You must be exhausted, please get some rest.”

Develania disappeared without a sound, just as she had arrived.

Finally, I can properly rest. Should I sleep right away, or have a smoke first? As I pondered, dangling the unlit cigarette in my mouth, a knock came, and the door burst open.

Deon didn’t bother turning his head to check who it was. He knew there was only one group of guys in this Demon King’s castle audacious enough to act so rude and brash.

And sure enough.

“Captaaaain! We’re here! Haaa… Are you trying to take your medicine again?!”

“What?! Medicine?”

“Captain! No!”

The peaceful atmosphere that had barely settled was shattered.

The cigarette disappeared from his mouth, and a candy barged into its place. Deon obediently accepted it, but soon wore a dumbfounded expression.

Yes, up to a certain point, I could accept it as clumsy consideration. It wasn’t like this was the first or second time this had happened since coming here. But…

They’re feeding me way too many.

“Mphf mmphf mphhh. (What the hell are you doing?)”

“Pfft.”

“Mmphhh?! (You wanna die?!)”

“Puhahahahaha! Your pronunciation is hilarious! Keheuk heuk!”

Giving one candy is fine, but what are they doing, shoving one into my mouth each?

Staring at the fools who were rolling around on the floor clutching their stomachs, mouths full of candy and nowhere to spit, I snatched up the dagger from beside the wooden box on the nightstand.

“Huh? Captain, you’re not really going to swing that around… Uwaaack!”

“We’ll actually get hurt if you do that, aaaaack!”

“Calm down! Calm down! We won’t laugh even if it’s funny!”

“Hey, you idiot! What are you saying?! Don’t you know it’s rude to call a bald guy ‘bald’?”

“Ah!”

Alright, my patience has run out.

The fools, sensing the ominous atmosphere, waved their hands and shouted for me to calm down, but too bad for them. The name of the dagger I happened to grab was ‘Calm’.

Deon adjusted his grip on the dagger just as he was about to swing it.

“Master…?”

A faint voice, as if in disbelief, reached his ears.

Deon paused and turned his head. Dan, who saw Deon’s bulging cheeks head-on, flinched and subtly averted his gaze. His diverted gaze swept over the mad dogs, who were pale and gasping for breath as if they had come back from the dead, before finally understanding dawned on him.

“Truly… you are amazing in many ways. To draw out Master’s emotions to this extent.”

“Don’t mention it!”

“It’s not a compliment. You’re supposed to be bringing out his energy, not his murderous intent.”

“Energy or murderous intent, whatever.”

“They are completely different.”

Dan took out a handkerchief from his pocket and approached Deon.

He held out the unfolded handkerchief to Deon’s mouth, and red eyes pierced him as if asking what this was about. Dan said matter-of-factly,

“See, I told you, you should always carry a handkerchief. Isn’t it because you didn’t have a handkerchief that you ended up like this?”

“…….”

“Spit it out, please.”

The already sharp gaze became even more piercing. Deon’s glare sharpened, even carrying a hint of murderous intent, but Dan remained unfazed.

He’d have to spit it out anyway.

“Hahaha! He said ‘spit it out’! Hahahaha!”

“What are you doing, Captain! Hurry up and spit it out!”

“Pwahahahahaha keuheuk keuheuk hahaha!”

Eventually, the dagger flew.

Leaving behind the fools who had quieted down in terror, true to the name ‘Calm’, Deon lowered his gaze in resignation. One by one, slightly melted candies fell soundlessly onto the handkerchief, as if trying to spit them out as cleanly as possible.

One, two… Dan counted the candies in his head, inwardly shocked. Just how many did they feed him?

“……I’m done.”

Deon pulled his head back, rolling the last candy in his mouth.

Dan roughly wrapped up the handkerchief and took out a clean, white handkerchief from his pocket.

“Here’s a new handkerchief.”

“……?”

“Didn’t you say to ask for one separately later if you deemed it necessary?”

Deon, taken aback, received the handkerchief and examined it in his hand as if it were something unfamiliar. A sullen voice followed.

“……It’s white.”

“Yes, bloodstains will be very noticeable.”

You’re not going to be coughing up blood anymore, anyway.

His eyes seemed to say. Deon stared at Dan for a moment. Even under the burdensome gaze, Dan didn’t avoid it and met the red eyes.

In the subtle atmosphere, even the mad dogs held their breath, and then—clink—a small sound broke the silence.

The small sound of the candy rolling in his mouth hitting his teeth. Deon chuckled and tucked the handkerchief into his pocket.

“Well, yeah. More importantly…”

“…….”

“Get those bastards out of here.”

They’re driving me crazy.

A pale finger pointed sharply towards the mad dogs.

“Captain? We were being good, aren’t you being a little too harsh?”

“Right now.”

“Captaaaain!”

……Looks like it wasn’t just murderous intent they brought out in him.

Dan, who chuckled softly at the noticeably softened atmosphere in the room, moved his feet.

“Alright, everyone, you heard him, right? Please leave.”