Chapter 89: A Break That’s Not Really a Break

As the entire city fell into silence, Gaisitel was the first to snap out of it.

Momentarily stunned, he seemed to realize his rudeness, quickly slapping his own cheeks. He then turned and pushed his way through the surrounding demons, barking at his legion members who were walking alongside the palanquin.

“What are you all doing! Hurry up and get lost! It seems like the surrounding demons are bothering our Lord, so clear them out quickly!”

The expressions of the legion members shifted subtly for a moment.

‘…I don’t know much about the Commander of the 0th Legion, but no matter how I look at it, it seems like Gaisitel-nim is more annoying than those guys over there.’

He keeps hovering around and spouting nonsense he thinks is flattery. Our Lord already seemed to have a headache; having him chirp away on top of that…

Of course, no one voiced those thoughts.

Like superior like subordinate; the legion members, not wanting to risk incurring their superior’s wrath with potentially inaccurate information, simply responded quickly and moved towards the surrounding demons like sheepdogs herding their flock.

The demons who heard Gaisitel’s outburst retreated warily, their faces twisted with annoyance. They didn’t miss the opportunity to glare daggers at him.

‘Should I just be satisfied with having seen the rumored Commander of the 0th Legion in person?’

Most thought this and obediently backed away.

‘Judging by the looks of it, they’ll be staying for a few days. Maybe I should hang around near their lodgings. Then I might at least catch another glimpse of his face….’

A few others entertained such thoughts, watching the ornate palanquin as it started moving again in the distance.

Develania felt these gazes and chuckled.

“Hel’s going to have a rough time.”

***

Get lost.

Those words were definitely not intentional. This was beyond my control.

It truly felt like something that welled up from the depths of my heart without me realizing it.

As the palanquin moved, Ben on the left kept asking if my headache was still bothering me, if there were any other parts of me that felt unwell besides my head.

On the right, Gaisitel kept showering me with dizzying flattery, asking if the palanquin was comfortable, if there was anything I disliked, saying that Demon-nim looked like he was radiating a divine aura while sitting in the palanquin, and so on. How could I not go crazy?

‘Just get lost, you bastards… I’m fine, I’m telling you I’m fine….’

So, unintentionally, a groan-like mutter escaped my lips. Get lost.

I didn’t expect it to escalate to this extent.

“What are you all doing! Hurry up and get lost! It seems like the surrounding demons are bothering our Lord, so clear them out quickly!”

No, there’s no need to go that far.

Are you planning on making all the demons in this city my enemies? Just you, just you get lost!

I could feel the stinging gazes. Glancing around, I saw the distorted faces of the demons.

It was dizzying. They were begrudgingly retreating from the unreasonable orders of the Commander of the 10th Corps, their eyes spitting venom.

First, their gazes were directed at the 10th Corps members who were chasing them away, then at Gaisitel, and then, finally, they settled on—me.

‘…I guess I won’t be able to live comfortably in this city.’

Haha. Hahaha. Hahahahaha.

Anyone could see that this situation was a result of my order. Naturally, they would be annoyed with me. If I continue to stay in this city, who knows when and where some guy might try to stab me in the back.

So, I holed myself up in my accommodations—a lavish mansion that Gaisitel had seized from the city administrator.

…What? Why?

Oh, and thinking about the palanquin again, it was truly the worst.

To what extent? Well, you can tell just by looking at my current state.

‘…Damn it.’

While blankly lying in the room, the memory suddenly resurfaced, and I quietly pulled the blanket over my head.

And using the blanket as a medium, I thrashed around with all my might, trying to escape the embarrassment.

Thud, thud thud!

“Ugh, damn it!”

I sprained my ankle.

Spraining my ankle while kicking the blanket—this is something I can’t tell anyone.

Groaning, I clutched my ankle and rolled around silently when bang! The door burst open. Quickly righting myself, I turned my head, and I couldn’t help but flinch at the figure that came into view.

Standing there was the head physician, radiating an immense aura.

His eyes blazing, Ben scanned the room before striding towards me and rattling off questions.

“Demon-nim, what happened! Is your head hurting again? Or was it an attack? No, you wouldn’t groan over a mere attack… then…!”

“It’s nothing!”

I quickly cut him off, afraid he might misunderstand again. Nevertheless, Ben still looked at me with narrowed eyes, as if he didn’t believe me.

…Facing his face reminds me of yesterday’s events again. Right, the palanquin. I rode in the palanquin….

Embarrassed, I lowered my head, which made him fuss again about whether my head was hurting, how much it hurt, if it was an aftereffect, and so on, forcing me to raise my head and fix my gaze straight ahead.

As I was wondering how to make him understand that I was fine, Develania peeked her head in from the hallway beyond the open door.

“Ben, you seem to see Demon-nim as awfully fragile, don’t you?”

“…Isn’t that obvious since I’m the head physician?”

“Even so, he’s ‘the’ Demon King, after all.”

“…….”

“Well, it doesn’t matter to me, but anyway, Demon-niiim—.”

She lightly shrugged and turned to look this way.

Her voice was even more saccharine than usual, making me uneasy. I suppressed the urge to jump up and barely managed to answer. As if waiting for it, a gentle voice returned.

“There are some curious little rats sniffing around outside. Are you perhaps feeling uncomfortable about it? Like, so bothered that you don’t want to go out to buy clothes….”

“That’s….”

Even if that wasn’t the reason….

“Did you say you don’t want to go out to buy clothes!”

Where did you even come from again?

Gaisitel suddenly appeared from the ceiling and dramatically spread and folded the bat wings on his back as if wanting attention. He then clapped his hands twice towards the outside.

Swish.

Swish swish.

……

“Oh my?”

“You must be feeling bothered! That’s why I summoned the designers in advance! …Actually, the only reason for me to come to this city with the Commander of the 2nd Corps is that….”

I can hear everything.

Develania’s clothes shopping is famous even here.

I stared at the designers, whose faces had turned a ghastly pale and whose lips were trembling as they forced a smile, then looked around the room. It was definitely empty except for the bed, wardrobe, and table, but it was instantly filled with clothes.

If the First City was the ‘City of Entertainment,’ the Second City was the ‘City of Shopping’ or the ‘City of Trade.’ You could definitely tell just by looking at the variety of clothes. You could see everything from northern Human Realm attire to southern styles.

‘…But strangely, there seem to be more southern styles.’

Come to think of it, southern culture seemed especially prominent in this city.

The clothes Develania gave me when I first arrived in the Demon Realm, that damned palanquin, and even the clothes hanging here.

‘Well, maybe they discovered some passage connected to the south?’

Nah, no way. Even if the Demon King wouldn’t bother to tell me unless it was something I needed to deal with, if that were the case, the Empire would already know and have taken measures. There’s no way I wouldn’t have heard about it.

‘It’s probably just a coincidence.’

***

The Empire, no, the Emperor, is going berserk. After entrusting internal affairs to the Crown Prince, he has personally taken to the battlefield, wielding his sword.

Due to this situation, the king of a small kingdom in the south, who had been on high alert, sighed in dismay at the new information he received.

It seems heaven intends to put our kingdom through trials.

“A border with the Demon Realm has been discovered?”

Here, in our kingdom?

“And at a time like this….”

Normally, they would have informed the Empire of this fact and discussed countermeasures together.

Implicitly, the Empire was in charge of matters related to the Demon Realm, and the other kingdoms, not wanting to waste unnecessary effort and resources, had agreed to this without much opposition.

But they couldn’t do that now. With the Empire rampaging without reason, if they conquered the kingdom they were currently fighting, their kingdom might be the next target.

They couldn’t rashly hand over such important information to a country that might become their enemy.

Sighing repeatedly, the king was flipping through documents when his eyebrows twitched as if he had found something.

“No particular incidents, huh?”

Demons have crossed over and are wandering around wearing clumsy robes, yet there haven’t been any particular incidents.

“Yes, they have mostly been spotted loitering in markets or places where small festivals are held, and aside from occasionally stealing clothes or other items, they haven’t caused any major incidents.”

“So, no serious crimes like murder so far?”

Yes.

“Haa, well, for now, I suppose we should be thankful for that much.”

For now, they should increase their own surveillance and security and postpone informing the Empire. The current Empire couldn’t be trusted.

Thinking that he shouldn’t add to the anxiety of the kingdom’s citizens, who were already uneasy due to the war, he decided to keep this fact a secret. As he continued to skim the documents, the king read the report on the demons’ attire and clutched the back of his neck.

Without exception, demons have something that distinguishes them from humans. For example, horns or tails, or in the Demon King’s case, his ‘eyes’.

So, if they want to come to the Human Realm, they need to hide these things well, but these clumsy demons…!

‘If you have a tail, you should hide your tail! Why are you covering your face?!’

Seriously, if you have a tail, you should focus on hiding your tail. Why are they so fixated on the robe’s hood, and why does a guy with horns pull the front of his hood down when talking to people? Doesn’t that make the shape of the horns even more obvious!

It was fortunate that it was during a festival, so they were simply mistaken for props; otherwise, they would have widely publicized that demons were roaming around here.

‘Do these guys even intend to hide?’

He already felt exhausted at the thought of the added things he needed to worry about.

***

“First….”

I looked around at the room filled with clothes.

…Yeah, this is still too much.

“Let’s get rid of these first.”

“Excuse me? Ah, could it be that there isn’t a single piece of clothing you like?”

Gaisitel’s eyes widened in surprise before turning sharp as he glared at the designers.

As if on cue, the designers’ faces paled. They were already pale to begin with, but now it was as if they had been coated in flour.

Afraid that he might torment the innocent designers, I hurriedly waved my hand.

“No, that’s not it. It’s just that….”

“It’s just that?”

……

Even with Gaisitel’s questioning, I trailed off and simply shut my mouth.

How could I just say I wasn’t interested in clothes with a demon listening intently beside me?

Glancing at Develania, our eyes met as if by magic. Perhaps sensing something from my gaze, she nodded and opened her mouth.

“It’s kind of you, but it seems like Demon-nim wants to browse through the stores himself? Since we’re in the city, there’s the fun of wandering around and looking at things.”

“Ah… how foolish of me. I apologize, Demon-nim.”

“Ah, yes… well….”

…I don’t want to go out. After causing such a ruckus, you want me to go out…?

Unable to readily agree to go out, I hesitated, and Develania’s eyes narrowed.

Folding her arms, she alternately looked at the window and then at me, nodding as if she understood something. She then abruptly opened the window, placed one leg out, and smiled brightly.

“Then I’ll go take care of the rats outside first—.”

“Huh? No, wait!”

Rats must be referring to the demons loitering nearby, right?

Anxious about creating unnecessary grudges, I hurriedly stopped Develania and sighed inwardly. It seemed she thought the reason I was hesitating was because of the demons outside.

Damn it. Fine, I’ll go out. I’m going out.

“There’s no need for that. Let’s just go out.”

I gestured for the designers to leave and accepted the robe from Ben’s hand, putting it on. As if seeing me as a child, Ben naturally reached out to adjust my hood and firmly tie the robe’s knot. His touch was quite practiced and natural.

‘…Why does this guy’s touch feel like Ed’s?’

Ed is a subordinate with nothing better to do, so it makes sense for him to offer to do this, but why him?

Do they see each other so often that they’ve unintentionally started to resemble each other?

While I was standing there blankly with thoughts that would surely lead to a fight if either Ed or Ben heard them, shocking words pierced my ears.

“Ah, are you going out? Then I shall prepare the palanquin….”

“Crazy get l… no need… um, it’s alright.”

The refusal etched in my spine immediately surfaced. I stammered for a moment, trying to soften the curse that was about to escape, but judging by Gaisitel’s reaction, it seemed okay.

Because his face wasn’t angry, but deathly pale.

“D-Did you just curse…?”

“Hahaha, of course. There’s no way things would be okay.”