Chapter 76: Back to the Demon Realm

“At this rate, an innocent demon might catch the blame. Surely they know how much Demon-nim cherishes that one.”

“…Ben.”

“You weren’t really going to kill him, were you? This guy hasn’t done anything wrong.”

“Where is Demon-nim?”

Changing the subject, are we? I should be grateful he didn’t kill the gardener.

Reasoning with someone like him won’t work.

Ben sighed deeply before dropping the pleasantries.

“It seems Demon-nim isn’t too happy about it.”

“….”

“When I said I’d make sure that incubus wouldn’t approach him again, he didn’t seem pleased.”

The hand gripping Hien’s neck loosened.

Hien slumped to the floor, clutching his throat and coughing. Ignoring him, Ed ran a hand through his hair and clicked his tongue in annoyance.

Ignoring Ed, Ben knelt before Hien, lifting his chin to check his condition.

“…Thankfully, there’s no serious damage.”

He let go and stood. Ben glanced at Hien looking up at him, then chuckled softly. The humorless laugh dispelled the strange silence.

“Try to understand. He has bad memories associated with incubi and succubi.”

“Excuse me?”

“Ben.”

“He wasn’t always prejudiced.”

Unbelievable. Hien stared wide-eyed at Ed.

Demons judge others by two main criteria: ‘power’ and ‘how they obtain the energy needed for life’.

Most demons gain energy through meals, while some don’t need to do anything special or obtain energy in other ways.

The method of obtaining energy doesn’t matter, but a demon who relies on others for sustenance is looked down upon.

‘Disgusting and lowly demons who leech off others to barely survive. That’s what incubi and succubi are….’

Hien observed Ed-nim’s irritated expression. Their eyes met, and his face immediately twisted. Hien swallowed the words lingering in his mouth.

…He looks plenty prejudiced to me.

“You don’t seem to believe me.”

“…I believe you.”

Whether he understood or not, he believed it. That was the only way to explain why he was annoyed but not showing any disgust.

‘So… the problem isn’t me, but that I’m an ‘incubus’? And that’s because of Ed-nim’s personal feelings?’

Then all I have to do is avoid Ed-nim!

A hopeful conclusion was reached.

Unless Demon-nim directly orders me to stay out of sight, but he did say he wanted to keep seeing me!

If Deon heard that, he’d retort, ‘When did I ever say that?!’ Hien thought, feeling a renewed sense of admiration for Demon-nim.

Of course, saying it out loud would draw their attention, so he kept it to himself.

Just then, an agitated voice broke through.

“Ben, get out of… no, that’s not right. You, go back.”

“Excuse me?”

“Yes, gardener. You won’t find anything good here, so you’d best go back.”

They didn’t even glance at him, focusing solely on each other, yet it was clear they were talking to him.

With both demons in agreement, there was no reason to linger. Hien, still bewildered by their standoff, slowly backed away.

Ben watched his retreating figure before turning his head, meeting the glare directed at him.

“That’s a scary look. You might actually try to kill me.”

“If you’d said anything more, I really might have.”

“More? Like what? Mistaking a succubus for an incubus and confessing wrongly….”

Bang!

The spot where Ben had been standing was now cratered.

“Shut up.”

“…This isn’t the training grounds, is it?”

Ben, having dodged in time, muttered as he looked at the destroyed floor. He met Ed’s gaze. His rarely flushed face made Ben chuckle.

“Calm down. Do you even know how you look right now?”

“….”

“Pathetic. Now that you know Demon-nim doesn’t want it, you know you can’t touch the gardener recklessly. Besides, the gardener hasn’t done anything seriously wrong.”

“….”

“Why don’t you calm down and go back to your post? By now, the news of Demon-nim’s return must have spread throughout the Demon King’s castle. There will be many visitors.”

“….”

That was too much. He had overreacted in his flustered state.

Remembering the incubus who was bold in strange ways, Ed sighed, feeling pathetic.

He knew the gardener hadn’t done anything wrong. He was just disliked for reminding him of the most shameful memory in his perfectionist life.

He wanted to avoid him, but as Demon-nim’s adjutant, he couldn’t. So he tried to get rid of him at this opportunity.

He knew that Demon-nim didn’t want to completely eliminate the gardener, but he pretended not to know, using the excuse of serving his lord.

Even putting aside personal feelings, the incubus’s existence tarnished Demon-nim’s name, so there was no hesitation.

‘I never expected him to say something like that….’

He was the adjutant of the Commander of the 0th Legion.

Acting for his sake shouldn’t involve personal feelings. His current actions were a disqualification.

Thinking that far, Ed raised a hand to smooth down his face, trying to regain his composure.

‘Let’s go back.’

Whether an incubus had deceived him by hiding their gender and toying with his feelings in the past, or had spread his confession and made him a laughingstock, that was the past and had nothing to do with the gardener.

Forget it. The more he reacted sensitively, the more ridiculous he looked.

He quickened his pace, thinking of Demon-nim waiting for him, just like he always had.

Ed encountered the Commander of the 8th Corps right in front of Deon’s room.

“Would someone like me… be intruding on Demon-nim’s time…?”

“What are you saying! Hel-nim is a full-fledged corps commander! I didn’t get to properly greet him last quarter, so I must do it properly this time!”

“But….”

A ‘quarter’ referred to the time when Demon-nim left for missions and the time he stayed in the Demon King’s castle after returning.

There were no distinct seasons, and the concept of time was vague for demons with their long lifespans, so they roughly divided the periods based on his movements. Judging by their conversation, he knew who the dark figure was.

The corps commander who hadn’t greeted Demon-nim last time.

Various weapons hung all over his body, not just his back. And a completely black figure from head to toe.

“Commander of the 8th Corps?”

“……!”

Just as he thought.

Certain of the other’s identity as the Commander of the 8th Corps, Ed immediately bowed.

“Apologies for the late greeting. I am Ed, adjutant to Demon Hart, Commander of the 0th Legion. What brings the Commander of the 8th Corps here?”

***

The Commander of the 8th Corps sat crouched in front of the door, blaming himself as if he wanted the ground to swallow him whole. Beside him, his adjutant enthusiastically encouraged him, while Develania, who had caused this situation, snickered quietly.

‘……Heh.’

What a mess.

I quietly observed the scene before turning my gaze to Ed.

My intention was for him to somehow clean up this mess, but Ed only bowed his head further, taking no action.

‘Jerk….’

He’s the one who brought them here.

I stared at him with cold eyes before turning away. Dealing with this crazy situation was the priority.

Clap-

I lightly clapped my hands. As if by magic, everyone’s attention focused on me, and silence fell.

So….

“What a mess.”

“A mess… no, Demon King?”

They jumped up in surprise.

What’s the Demon King doing here?! And Lirinel is with him.

First the Commander of the 2nd Corps, then the Commander of the 8th Corps, and now the Demon King and the Commander of the 11th Corps. What’s going on?

“D-Demon-nim….”

“……?”

Unlike the Demon King’s nonchalant expression, Lirinel nervously fidgeted, looking uneasy.

Feeling uneasy myself, I looked at her, and when our eyes met, she flinched and then looked like she was about to cry.

“I’m sorry….”

What for?

“Ah, it’s just that Lirinel received something interesting. A uniquely shaped cookie.”

The Demon King smiled slyly, like a fox, and shook something.

In his hand was a bag of cookies. The source was obvious without having to ask.

B-but why? I thought I gave her something normal. Surely, he’s not going to complain that I gave a corps commander something weird? That human cookies can’t be trusted?

“Sor….”

“Don’t I get one of those?”

“Ry… what?”

“That’s not fair. Giving something like this only to Lirinel.”

“That’s right, Demon-niim, you didn’t say a word to me, but you gave something like that only to Lirinel? That’s too much-.”

“…….”

Before I could feel relieved, I was speechless.

So, he came all this way because I didn’t give him a present? The Demon King?

Even the Commander of the 2nd Corps, exposed by the Demon King, started hoping for a souvenir. He seemed to be trying not to show it, but Ed was also staring at me, and even the Commander of the 8th Corps stopped blaming himself and was looking at me with expectant eyes.

‘…You just keep blaming yourself, why don’t you.’

“Demon?”

“Ah, yes. Just a moment….”

I quickly averted my gaze and started rummaging through the luggage I had brought.

What did I pack? I need something decent. If I don’t give them something, they’ll probably just stay here.

I had roughly checked what Rememver had packed while coming here, but I hadn’t looked closely, so I was a little worried, but….

‘Wow… surprisingly….’

Ultimately, it was an unnecessary worry.

A silver pocket watch, white gloves, cookies. If I tried hard enough, I could make them look like decent gifts.

‘And they’re new.’

Perfect.

It was a little concerning that I didn’t use pocket watches, that I found gloves stuffy and only wore them for formal occasions, and that the cookies were shaped like flowers and hearts instead of the usual kind he provided.

Surely Rememver didn’t know anything. He must have just packed them just in case.

‘…Then is this also just in case…?’

Was he preparing for retirement…?

I found flower seeds in a corner of the bag that I didn’t even know were there, and I couldn’t help but make a strange face, forgetting about managing my expression.

“A pocket watch?”

“Yes.”

“I don’t know if I deserve to receive something so nice.”

The Demon King grinned as he put the pocket watch in his pouch. My eyes narrowed and cooled as I watched him.

Words I couldn’t bring myself to say swirled in my mouth.

He’s the one who wanted it….

“I was thinking of cookies. But to give me something this good. Anyway, thanks.”

“……!”

Did I say my thoughts out loud?

Seeing the Demon King turn around, it seemed I hadn’t. Lirinel’s eyes met mine as he left, saying he had a lot to do. Her face was still tearful, and her lips moved.

‘I’m really sorry.’

I wasn’t okay, but I could pretend to be. It was obvious it wasn’t intentional, so I couldn’t really say anything.

Her face brightened as I vaguely indicated it was alright. She bowed deeply and hurriedly followed the Demon King.

I turned my gaze to Ed. He was swapping his gloves.

‘They’re the same shape and color, so why bother…?’

The dark, strange mark on the back of his hand, usually hidden by his white gloves, appeared and then disappeared.

It gave me an eerie feeling, and I subtly looked away. Ed’s satisfied voice reached my ears.

“Thank you, Demon-nim.”

Well… if he’s happy, that’s all that matters. I nodded vaguely and took out two bags of cookies from my bag.

Naturally, these were for the Commander of the 2nd Corps and the Commander of the 8th Corps.

It was fortunate that there were exactly two bags of cookies left; otherwise, things could have gotten messy. My guts aren’t strong enough to face the resentment of corps commanders yet.

But Develania’s expression as she alternated between looking at the cookies and the Commander of the 8th Corps was strange.

It was a mix of mischief and playfulness?

“Heuh-.”

“……?”

“Hey, Commander of the 8th Corps.”

Hel didn’t answer, but he lifted his head in response to her call. Develania grinned, a sinister smile on her face.