Chapter 217: Deon’s Nature and a Visit

Deon’s mouth slightly gaped, as if at a loss for words.

“My words are based purely on Master’s inherent nature, setting aside the current situation.”

“No… still… I don’t think I’m exactly good.”

“Well, in most cases, when faced with a scenario where one can blame others to evade responsibility, the outcome naturally leans towards blaming others. The heavier the burden, the stronger the inclination. Blaming oneself is an excruciatingly painful thing, after all.”

“……”

“You could see it as a kind of self-preservation instinct.”

Deon’s mouth snapped shut.

Dan lightly moistened his lips with the glass in his hand, then slowly continued.

“Yet, Master chose to blame himself instead of others. Even though it was someone barely more than a passing acquaintance, not someone of deep friendship. If that’s not goodness, then what is?”

“…That’s not being good, that’s being objective.”

“Do you think other people blame innocent bystanders because they don’t know how to be objective? Everyone knows it’s not true, but they do it anyway.”

He set down the glass, the liquid inside sloshing gently.

Dan, who had already placed an empty bottle down, lightly grasped Deon’s wrist as he reached for a new one, stopping him before placing a fresh, unopened bottle in front of him in a proper manner.

Deon glanced at him, then picked up the neatly opened bottle and spoke.

“I’ve driven countless lives to their deaths for my own personal goals.”

“I know.”

“Yet, without knowing my place, I direct resentful eyes at other beings.”

“I know that too.”

“Even when destroying the Empire…”

“I am also aware of that. When did I ever say Master doesn’t resent others?”

Why is he so stubbornly denying something that could just be glossed over?

Dan drained the remaining liquid in his glass, then refilled it and said.

“I said Master chose to blame himself instead of others.”

“That’s the same thing. Even if we grant that’s true for a sorcerer, after seeing my attitude towards the Duke and the Emperor, what are you thinking saying such things…”

“Is that so? Then let me correct myself. Master chooses to blame himself before blaming others.”

“……”

“If Master had blamed others without first blaming himself, I wouldn’t have brought up this kind of talk.”

“But.”

“Master.”

It wasn’t like he brought it up to start an argument.

It was just a casual remark, so Dan thought it best to wrap it up quickly and opened his mouth without dragging it out.

“Who is the most resentful and hateful being in the world to you?”

“……”

As if his words had choked him, Deon froze. Dan held up his glass with an ‘I knew it’ expression.

“That’s why.”

In my eyes, you’re just overflowing with emotions directed at yourself, and that’s how it turned out.

You might argue you started blaming others to survive, fearing you’d otherwise end your own life, but that’s just self-blame that overflowed and happened to target others.

The scale of the overflow is so significant that the magnitude of emotion you’re feeling, and the gentle nature that would normally prevent you from easily directing negative emotions towards others, becomes apparent, evoking a strange feeling.

As the time we’ve spent together has lengthened.

Dan, too, was understanding Deon.

***

I’m moving to bring Sir Deon the alcohol he ordered because I can’t refuse his command, but that doesn’t mean I’m relieved.

No matter how much Sir Deon has changed, would his drinking habits really have changed too?

As a Hero, it’s questionable whether he can even get drunk in the first place, but we can’t ignore even the slightest possibility. If he really does start his drunken rampage, the Demon King’s castle will be turned upside down again.

Thus, Ed chose to go and report to the Demon King before bringing alcohol to Deon Hart.

[Ah, it’s okay.]

He got his answer.

[Deon’s drunken rampages were caused because his time was stuck in the past, you see.]

[The past… you mean?]

[Yeah.]

The Eight Years’ War, I mean.

The Demon King swallowed the rest of his words and chuckled reassuringly. Ed flinched at the Demon King’s smile but didn’t dwell on it.

[Now he’s living in the present, so there won’t be any problems.]

Deon Hart shared his memories during the Eight Years’ War. Since then, he’s been distinguishing between what to remember and what not to, passing off uncomfortable truths and situations to his subconscious, meaning he had no chance to mentally mature.

Memory separation performed to survive on the battlefield. Memories not combined even after the war ended. Time, stuck in the situation of that time, unable to grow along with it.

His drunken rampage searching for enemies isn’t without reason. The point in time when Deon Hart separated his memories was during the Eight Years’ War, when survival was paramount.

To be precise, it was the point when he had not long since participated in the 8-year war and had just devised the ‘cruel combat method.’

‘Obsessed with enemies and driven mad by blood… a time when he wasn’t yet accustomed to it and couldn’t properly control the ‘degree,’ rampaging somewhat excessively.’

Now that he’s combined his memories and his mind is maturing again in accordance with the flow of time, there won’t be any problems.

[In the first place, a Hero who’s immune to poison is unlikely to get drunk on mere alcohol anyway.]

[Ah…….]

There are many parts he doesn’t understand, but at least he understands that the terrifying drunken rampage won’t happen.

Judging by how the Demon King deliberately omitted parts, he probably wouldn’t answer even if he asked. Ed, satisfied just to get confirmation, obediently nodded and stepped back.

***

As expected, Deon Hart didn’t get drunk.

Dan muttered, ‘As expected of a Hero….’ Deon, with an annoyed expression, poured the little remaining liquid in the bottle into his mouth. That’s six bottles.

Yet, far from being drunk, he didn’t even feel a buzz, finally getting thoroughly annoyed and pulling out a cigarette. Dan habitually lit it for him.

“Won’t you drink more?”

“It’s pointless to drink more. I won’t get drunk. It’s not about losing memory, but I should at least feel a bit tipsy.”

It’s fortunate that the cigarette-form drug takes effect while smoking. Perhaps because drug residue remains in his lungs, the effects sometimes linger for a while even after putting out the cigarette.

Deon, with a cigarette in his mouth, blankly stared at the liquor bottles strewn across the table, only regaining his senses after the endlessly burning cigarette butt dropped ash.

No, he still hadn’t fully come to his senses; he caught the falling ash with his palm and murmured quietly.

“Originally, I was thinking of expanding the trading company into the Demon Realm after withdrawing from the Human Realm….”

“……”

“It seems like the only thing to gain would be money.”

He already has more than enough money, so he doesn’t need it.

What’s important is whether it can be beneficial to this side at a crucial moment… Honestly, the possibility seems very slim.

It’s not that growing the trading company seems difficult. With four cities each with strong characteristics, just having the trading company act as a bridge between them could quickly increase its size. Magical beasts blocking key paths could also be cleared quickly if troops were concentrated under the pretext of needing to be cleared anyway.

But even if he grew its size like that, it seems there would be no use for it. Deon, who couldn’t find a suitable use after a rough mental calculation, chose to give up cleanly.

“Well, if I seriously considered it, some use might emerge, but in a situation where I heard those words, there’s no need to provoke vigilance with unnecessary movements….”

Damn vampire.

Deon narrowed his brow irritably, extinguished the almost completely burnt cigarette against his neck, and took out a new cigarette.

“……For the time being, I have no choice but to lie low.”

Words have no form, yet leave behind a residue denser than anyone else.

Today, the vampire’s remarks would have unknowingly influenced those who heard her. Even while denying it outright in front of her, they would unknowingly begin to track Deon Hart’s movements with their eyes behind the scenes.

“Master is really….”

Fire approached his face.

Raising his gaze, he met Dan’s eyes. Dan spoke with a smile.

“A disaster, aren’t you?”

He had expected it from when Deon started being wary of the demons… but to think he was really considering the Demon Realm as well. A small admiration flashed across Dan’s face.

Dan had noticed from Deon Hart’s earlier remarks that he was defining the Demon King’s army as the enemy.

Even if it’s just words, wasn’t he considering advancing the trading company into the Demon Realm? Trying to do something similar to what he did in the Human Realm!

‘From his perspective, this place becomes enemy territory.’

To have such thoughts in this place, how audacious. Laughter escaped him.

As if laughter was contagious, Deon, who was holding a lit cigarette, chuckled along.

“It just turned out that way.”

“Haha….”

Hearing ‘disaster’ reminds him anew of what the sorcerer had said when he first met him.

He called me a ticking time bomb, about to explode someday. Dan tilted his head.

“……What is it?”

“No, it’s nothing….”

Dan had heard the sorcerer’s words about his and Deon Hart’s intertwined fate back then, and still remembers them. That’s why he stared intently at Deon again and then involuntarily asked, as if muttering to himself.

“Is our relationship a fire because the bomb exploded, or did the bomb explode because a fire started?”

“I don’t know. But I’m sure that when I met the sorcerer and heard those words, things had already gone wrong.”

“If things had already gone wrong, then it would have been when we met before that… but our only previous meeting was during the Eight Years’ War… our first meeting….”

“Yeah. Back then.”

At their first meeting, young Deon learned from Dan that he had to hide his hemoptysis.

To be precise, it was that he had to avoid looking weak to survive. A simple but important realization expanded his horizons, leading to devising combat methods and even separating his memories. The beginning could be said to be Dan’s advice.

‘I survived thanks to you….’

The first words he said upon seeing his face were ‘get lost,’ laced with a threat, ‘or do you want to die?’ wasn’t it?

When he was told he had a foul mouth, he showed him what real foul language was, showering him with abuse.

Dan’s expression is strange; he seems to be recalling that time too. Pausing briefly at the considerably embarrassing past, Deon naturally opened his mouth as if nothing had happened.

“If it weren’t for your advice, I wouldn’t have lasted long and would have died. I am grateful for that point.”

“……”

“Anyway.”

He stubbed out the cigarette again on the spot he had used before and stood up from his seat.

“Clean up all the remaining alcohol and put it on a cart.”

“Are you going to return it?”

“Items, maybe, but returning food and drink because there’s leftovers is a bit weird. They probably wouldn’t even take it back.”

“Then…….”

“Follow me.”

Deon, helping Dan move the intact bottles onto the cart, turned his back.

***

The place he headed to was the Lofty Knights’ accommodations.

Dan, silently following Deon’s steps, paused momentarily at the accommodations that came into view. The pupils that captured Deon’s retreating figure wavered slightly.

‘Why here….’

He thought he wouldn’t be looking for them today at least.

He understands what Deon is thinking coming here, but….

Deon’s voice was heard.

“It’s quiet. Unusual.”

“…They might be at the training grounds. They’re always gathered there.”

“No. I checked when I was in the room, no one was there.”

When did he even check that? Sighing inwardly, he slowly blinked.

Judging from how quiet the normally noisy accommodations are, it’s obvious. They must have left their posts as he said. If not just one or two, but nearly half of them suddenly left their posts, anyone would see it as suspicious.

‘They’ll get caught.’

It seems he has to prepare himself to get scolded. Steps filled with resignation moved heavily.

It was then that a voice was heard.

“Huh? Captain…?”

A knight who discovered Deon confidently striding down the hallway stopped in his tracks and rubbed his eyes.

Even after removing any possible debris from his eyes, Deon’s figure was still clearly visible. The guy blinked blankly for a moment, then seemed to grasp the situation, jumping up and down on the spot and shouting.

“It’s really the Captain!”