Chapter 232: Unforeseen Variable

“Where is Sir Deon?”

His office is empty. Is he in his room?

Ed closed the office door and started walking down the hallway again. Sir Deon’s room wasn’t far from the office, so it wasn’t long before he reached his destination.

Ed stopped walking. Someone was opening the door and coming out.

“Dan?”

“…Adjutant?”

Dan turned around, responding reflexively to the familiar voice, then flinched. The demon looked unusually exhausted, standing in the dimly lit hallway.

‘What’s wrong? Did the injuries from Master pushing him away accumulate and finally explode?’

This was a completely new look. Even when Deon Hart became commander-in-chief and was buried under mountains of paperwork, he hadn’t looked this bad. Dan knew the other demon didn’t see him favorably, but he couldn’t help but ask.

“You look tired… Is something wrong?”

“Ah.”

Only then did Ed realize his own state. He raised a hand and wiped it across his face.

Where his hand passed, his usual composed expression returned. He answered calmly, as if it were nothing.

“There was a clash between the 9th Corps Commander and the 5th Corps Commander.”

“Ah…”

‘So it went as planned.’ Dan’s expression turned strange.

‘So that demon went to stop them? No need for that, what a busybody.’

He understood. If it were a normal commander-in-chief, a clash between key internal forces would be a definite loss. As someone who didn’t know the full story, Ed would have tried to stop it for Deon Hart’s sake. Dan suppressed a snicker.

‘What kind of demon is so devoted…’

The conscience he had completely forgotten about started to ache faintly.

Dan was about to avert his gaze when he realized the questioning look he was receiving. He pretended not to notice and forced out words.

“That must have been tough.”

“Not really…”

The denial trailed off. Ed trailed off, avoiding eye contact for a moment, then quickly changed the subject as if to end the conversation.

“Is Sir Deon inside?”

“No, Master is probably at the Lofty Knights’ exclusive training ground. I was just heading there myself, would you like to come with me?”

“…No. You go ahead.”

There was no reason to talk anyway, and it would just be an awkward atmosphere the whole way. They weren’t on good terms, so going separately would be more comfortable for both of them.

Dan, sensing Ed’s meaning, shrugged and started walking first. Ed waited for a moment, then followed, keeping a certain distance.

Despite moving separately, they both had to stop in the same place before even reaching their destination.

The first to stop was Dan, who was walking ahead.

Suddenly, his brain, receiving a shocking scene from his eyes, momentarily stopped working. All movement ceased for a moment.

“…Crazy.”

“Hmm?”

Ed, who had been walking absentmindedly, raised his head at the unexpected curse.

And then said, “Crazy.”

“What in the…”

The distance between them had narrowed again, but that wasn’t important now.

Ed struggled to fix his shaking eyes on the front to grasp the situation. His eyes were fixed on the Lofty Knights and Deon Hart.

A knight, ‘holding’ Deon Hart, shouted.

“Did everyone get a turn? Then I’m throwing him randomly now! Whoever drops him, prepare to die! Not to me, but to the Captain!”

“Do you think we’ll drop the Captain? It’s not like we’ve only practiced once or twice, we’ve even done it in real battles a few times.”

“No, real battles are one thing, but practice is different. In practice, we always filled sacks with stones and sand. We’ve never used the actual Captain before.”

“Are you done talking? Anyway, here we go! Captain, relax your body!”

Deon Hart flew into the sky. A knight waiting where he would fall caught him steadily. But just for a moment, Deon Hart was thrown into the air again.

‘Mi… No, good heavens.’

Don’t they know Sir Deon isn’t a ball?

Ed’s face paled at the audacity of throwing and catching Deon Hart so casually.

Just this spectacle was appalling enough, but they shamelessly complained to Deon Hart as well.

“Captaaaain, we’re practicing carrying a Captain who can’t move in an emergency, you know? It’s difficult if you keep thrashing around.”

“…That shouldn’t happen anymore.”

“You never know? Now, trust us and relax. Just stay still and we’ll take care of everything.”

They threw him really high as if he weighed nothing. Ed gave up on thinking at that point.

While Ed was spacing out, Deon, who was floating in the air again, muttered blankly, seemingly spacing out for a different reason.

“I’m Deon Hart. If I’m in a situation where I can’t move, you guys are already…”

“Ah, then we should practice carrying you and running away before that situation happens! There might be resistance from the Captain then… Thrash around as much as you want, Captain! We’ll practice not dropping you even then!”

“If I resist seriously, you guys won’t be able to handle it.”

“Are you going to resist to the point of hurting us?”

“…Yeah.”

“Your answer was late.”

“Yeah.”

“It’s already too late. Can’t hear you. Okay, let’s go again!”

…When I was in the room, I thought the window was noisy, so it was because of this. I just thought Master had visitors and it was noisy. Dan shook his head, barely getting his escaped mind back.

Once he regained his senses, he finally noticed the presence of other demons on one side of the training ground. Dan’s eyes shook again as he belatedly recognized their identities as the 11th Corps Commander and the 8th Corps Commander.

It was understandable for the 11th Corps Commander Lirinel to be here, but why was the 8th Corps Commander here? Moreover, he was sitting there hugging his knees, covered in blood.

He slowly approached them.

“Greetings.”

“Hey, hello.”

“…I… I can’t do it…”

“…Excuse me, but why is the 8th Corps Commander like this? No, before that, why is Master spacing out like that?”

Normal Deon Hart would never let their crazy antics slide. He would have drawn his dagger and punished them the moment they tried the first time, no matter what excuse they made.

His blank response and expression… he was definitely spacing out. Dan was sure of it.

As expected, Lirinel shrugged.

“He seems to be very surprised by the news that the Demon Church successfully summoned a corps commander. He’s been like that ever since. The knights think Sir Deon is upset and are making a fuss like that to cheer him up.”

“Excuse me?!”

“Didn’t you hear the shouting just now? They said, ‘Okay, we’ll go again until you come to your senses!’ The middle part was a bit quiet though.”

“I didn’t hear… No, that’s not it.”

He knew the Demon Church was constantly trying to summon high-ranking demons, but they actually succeeded? They broke through that low probability and summoned a corps commander of all things?

“…Seeing the 8th Corps Commander here, who has never been here before, I guess it’s him who was summoned. Did you even make a contract?”

“Yeah, that’s right. The situation at the time of summoning was a mess, and he apparently made a contract in a daze amidst the chaos.”

He didn’t know what the situation was, but he understood that it was related to the 8th Corps Commander being covered in blood.

They had only just started laying the groundwork in the Demon Realm, but now a huge variable, a corps commander who was not only summoned but even contracted, had appeared. No wonder Master was spacing out. If the Human Realm collapsed too quickly, there wouldn’t be enough preparation time.

Dan looked pityingly at Deon being tossed around, then lowered his gaze at a voice he suddenly heard.

The 8th Corps Commander was curling up as if he would become a ball.

“Sir Deon is… definitely upset… It’s because someone like me was summoned…”

“Huh? Is that so?”

“I knew it…!!”

The 8th Corps Commander Hel collapsed at Lirinel’s innocent questioning.

‘No, why here of all places.’

Why did the 11th Corps Commander, who knew the 8th Corps Commander’s personality, agree with him?

Dan thought, watching the 8th Corps Commander burrow into the ground. ‘Adjutant, I need an adjutant.’

He remembered that whenever he had briefly seen the 8th Corps Commander, his adjutant was always by his side, comforting him. Where was the adjutant?

Just in case he had missed him, he quickly looked around to find the 8th Corps Commander’s adjutant, but before that, Ed, who had been watching the situation silently nearby, stepped forward.

“No. Sir Deon knows very well that the 8th Corps Commander’s abilities are outstanding. So he would never be disappointed in the 8th Corps Commander.”

“…Really?”

“Yes.”

The 8th Corps Commander cautiously raised his head. Ed willingly met his eyes and nodded firmly, filled with conviction.

Demons who go to the Human Realm through a legitimate contract have fewer restrictions. For other ordinary demons, the difference might be negligible, but if a demon as high-ranking as a corps commander made a contract, it would be a huge power boost for the commander-in-chief, making things much easier.

The war was already showing signs of stalemate, so this news was very welcome.

Not only purely for Deon Hart’s sake, but also for his own personal reasons.

‘Was it when we returned to the Demon King’s castle?’

When moving from the First City to return to the Demon King’s castle, Ed thought, slowly organizing his thoughts.

‘If Sir Deon is distancing himself from me because of the situation, i.e., the environment, then I just need to change that environment.’

He guessed that the environment probably meant the war with the Human Realm.

He still didn’t understand why that was enough reason to distance himself from him… but nothing else came to mind, so he had no choice but to cling to this idea.

That’s why he wanted to end the war as soon as possible, but contrary to his wishes, the war seemed to be solidifying into a stalemate. The fact that 9th Corps Commander Trober, who should be at the border, had returned to the Demon King’s castle was proof of that.

‘That’s a problem.’

A solidified stalemate leads to the return of corps commanders who have no work, and the returned corps commanders, unable to bear the boredom, cause problems with other corps commanders, creating conflict.

This doesn’t just end there, it causes problems in troop management. It means that the war power could even decrease. The decreased war power would accelerate the solidification of meaningless stalemates and attrition warfare. It’s a vicious cycle.

For Ed, who wanted to end the war with the Human Realm quickly and return to the previous relationship with the distanced Sir Deon, this was the ending he wanted to avoid the most.

Therefore, the 8th Corps Commander, who could shake up the board, was very important. To boost the morale of the 8th Corps Commander in place of his absent adjutant, Ed said decisively.

“Sir Deon is certainly worried about how to use the excellent pawn that is the 8th Corps Commander in the right place.”

“Is that… so?”

“Yes. Isn’t that right, Sir Deon?”

Sir Deon.

Ed turned around. Deon, who had approached nearby at some point and was watching the situation, slowly nodded.

Behind him, the Lofty Knights were rubbing their foreheads or the backs of their heads, groaning in pain.

“Well… yeah.”

“Did you hear that? So please get up now. The floor is cold.”

Deon nodded and quietly watched the 8th Corps Commander slowly get up. He felt like sighing, but he suppressed it, afraid that the corps commander with low self-esteem would burrow back into the ground.

‘I didn’t really intend to summon him.’

It was just one of the excuses the Demon Church used to stay in the Human Realm. When he heard that they actually summoned and contracted him, he was dumbfounded.

‘The probability was low, wasn’t it…’

He was momentarily stunned.

But it was already done. He had to show that he was using him somewhere.

Deon called out to Lirinel, who was peeking around and watching his reaction.

“You did well, so you don’t have to be nervous. Good job.”

“H-huh…! O-of course! Anything for Sir Deon!”

“…And Hel?”

“I’m sorry…”

I only called his name, why.