Chapter 90: A Break That’s Not Really a Break

Visibly shocked, Gaisitel opened and closed his mouth a few times before finally kneeling slowly. A thin red line was now clearly visible on his neck, something that hadn’t been there moments before.

Drip—drip. Blood welled up along the thin line, gathering and then trickling down.

Only then did I notice the thread-like object against Gaisitel’s neck.

“…If I have offended you in any way, I apologize. I am sorry.”

Develaniaaa! What do you think you’re doing to a fellow corps commander!

Even worse, for some reason, Gaisitel is apologizing instead of getting angry! Why are you apologizing!

In the midst of all this, the fact that he didn’t even consider the palanquin as the cause was a bit absurd, but my bewilderment was even greater.

Develania, who had placed the thread on Gaisitel’s neck, was poised as if she would pull it at any moment—

“What shall we do, Demon-nim?”

—and she was smiling.

Wait, weren’t you guys corps commanders? I was under the impression that commanders refrained from killing each other?

Or perhaps—

‘Gaisitel’s treatment was strange, could it be…’

Had he been deemed no longer useful to their forces? A corps commander better off replaced?

The Demon King is like a parent to all demons. Since they are born from the Demon King’s power, they would rarely do anything that could harm him.

Therefore, there must be a reason for treating a crucial asset like a ‘corps commander’ in this way.

If not, just as not all children grow up obedient and well-behaved, perhaps there are demons who stray a little, and Develania is one of them.

Whichever the answer, the thought that flashed through my mind at that moment was simply, ‘I’m screwed.’

‘That means they can kill me whenever they want!’

The tension that had eased slightly tightened again.

I thought I at least had some safety net, but to think I was completely exposed. It was like walking a tightrope over a cliff with bare hands.

I burned Develania’s smiling face into my memory once more. If things went wrong, that same expression would be there when she cut my throat.

I need to win her over beforehand. My mind raced for a brief moment.

And then, Gaisitel, looking like he was about to be beheaded, came into view.

Ah, I have an answer.

“Let’s go out.”

Confirming that Ben’s hands, which had been adjusting my clothes, had moved away, I hurriedly headed towards the door.

Clearly not expecting my words, Develania loosened her grip on the thread and asked back. Her usual relaxed expression was gone, and her innocently blinking eyes, as if she hadn’t heard correctly, were unsettling.

“…Yes?”

“We can’t have fellow corps commanders killing each other. Gaisitel hasn’t done anything wrong, so put away that thread and let’s go out.”

A way to increase Develania’s favor towards me, and a way to avoid incurring Gaisitel’s resentment.

‘Going out’ under the pretense of ‘buying clothes’.

It’ll be a bit of a hassle, but if that’s what it takes to secure a better future, then I have no choice but to sacrifice myself.

Everyone froze at the sudden change of topic for a moment, but as expected, Gaisitel was the first to act.

He utilized some unknown, well-honed survival skills, taking advantage of the slack in Develania’s thread to dash towards the door and open it.

Develania blinked at him for a moment, then chuckled and retracted the thread.

“If Demon-nim says so.”

“…”

“More than that, Demon-nim is indeed humble. To refer to yourself as being on the ‘same’ level as us corps commanders—.”

Well, truth be told, my position is lower than that. …Huh? Wait a minute, ‘humble’? Not ‘arrogant’?

I’m a human, and the ‘Commander of the 0th Legion’ position I somehow obtained was created out of thin air, so it’s definitely an honorary title. And it’s not like I have any real responsibilities…

Given that, saying I’m on the ‘same’ level as other corps commanders is humility, not arrogance?

“Demon-nim’s position is implicitly similar to that of the Commander of the 1st Corps, isn’t it?”

“The Commander of the 1st Corps is absent, but everyone gets more nervous when dealing with Demon-nim than with the Commander of the 1st Corps, so practically speaking, Demon-nim is higher. Even the Demon King is more cautious with Demon-nim than with the Commander of the 1st Corps.”

I didn’t know. I just thought everyone was being respectful because I was a parachute appointment brought in directly by the Demon King.

So, my current position, even at the lowest estimate, is….

Demon King > Commander of the 1st Corps = Me > Rest of the Corps Commanders.

That’s insane.

The Commander of the 1st Corps also serves as the Demon King’s proxy. And I’m on a similar level as that guy? And that’s the lowest estimate.

But despite all that, I couldn’t say anything.

“…Let’s go out.”

I had no choice but to repeat what I’d said.

…….

Feeling like a dress-up doll was terrible, but sightseeing in the city was quite interesting.

As a city of trade, the variety of fruits and weapons was impressive. Even the types of fish in the market were diverse. Though it seemed like there were a lot of southern varieties, I just chalked it up to a trend.

I took a sweet fruit from Gaisitel and looked around.

“Demon-nim! Shall we go over there next?”

“Demon-nim, this fruit is called a mango. It’s a fruit that grows in the southern part of the Human Realm. Would you like to try some?”

Demon-nim, Demon-nim, Demon-nim… Enough with the Demon-nim! I want to look around, but the two corps commanders won’t leave me alone.

If even Ben was like that, I’d have a real headache, but thankfully, he seemed to have sensed my mood and was quietly following, making himself scarce.

Ah, and Gaisitel’s recovery was quick. I thought he would be depressed or seething with anger until I left, but he was back to his usual cheerful self, rubbing his hands together and volunteering to show me around the city as if nothing had happened.

Following his guidance, I circled around until I reached the city gate, and while watching the people going in and out, I casually muttered.

“Monster attacks must have gotten worse, but they’re still keeping the gates open.”

It was a question, but it was clearly just talking to myself.

After the gatekeepers spoke, the sight of demons leaving so casually didn’t fit the current situation, which was why I muttered it.

“Ah, actually, this city originally kept its gates closed. But a border with the Human Realm was discovered not far from here, so… Huh!”

“…?!”

Gaisitel gave an unexpected answer.

Could it be….

The hypothesis that had been lingering in the back of my mind swelled with significance, as if it had been waiting for this moment.

“The southern part of the Human Realm?”

“H-How did you know…! No, I mean, well, you see….”

It was true?!

Gaisitel belatedly tried to deny it, but the sight of him dropping the southern fruits he was holding and waving his hands didn’t seem very convincing.

I’m the only one who didn’t know about this, right?

I turned to look at Ben and Develania, and saw Develania holding her forehead and shaking her head, while Ben’s eyes were wide open.

At least Ben didn’t know.

‘That’s a relief. It wasn’t just me who didn’t know.’

Just then, Ben, who had been blankly gaping, frowned and asked sharply.

“Does the Demon King know about this?”

“Of course, I was going to report it! …I was going to.”

“So, you haven’t reported it.”

“…When would the demons who have to stay in the city ever get to go to the Human Realm? Since a border was discovered nearby, I thought we could just enjoy it for a bit….”

We even set up rules among ourselves for secretly going back and forth, prohibiting causing trouble there and all….

Gaisitel’s voice grew smaller and smaller. His head drooped, and the bat wings on his back folded tightly against his body.

And at that moment, those who had just left the city gate returned.

Trailing clouds of dust behind them, they were in a great hurry.

“Close the gate! Close the gate, quickly!!”

“Monsters!!”

Wow, seriously. At this rate, I might get stuck in this city?

It was hard to see clearly through the dust, but even just by the scale of the dust cloud, it was clear that there were a lot of them.

Unlike me, who was inwardly taken aback, the gatekeepers were calm.

They were briefly flustered, but soon skillfully took out communication stones and sent messages somewhere. Immediately, an alarm sounded, and the massive city gate began to close slowly.

‘Wait, it doesn’t look like they’ll be able to get in?’

The gate was almost completely closed, but the distance between the approaching monsters and the gate was still considerable.

I wondered if that was okay, and naturally my eyes followed them. At that moment, two of them pushed off the ground. And then, a slide!

They got in! They covered that distance in one go!

‘But why are monsters suddenly… Ah.’

The thoughts that had been flowing naturally reached something and stopped. At the same time, cold sweat trickled down my spine.

Come to think of it, on the way here, after that incident, all the monsters we encountered were driven inside the border. Actually, I didn’t intentionally try to drive them away. It was just that after killing some of them, the ones who felt their lives were threatened ran away first, so it couldn’t be helped.

‘But doing that again would be too wasteful….’

Setting up threads and luring monsters to fight wasn’t efficient because their numbers were too low.

It wasn’t like the massive numbers from the beginning. I thought it would be okay if those few escaped….

My thinking was shortsighted. Where would the chased monsters go? The only place with living beings nearby was here, this Second City.

‘This… anyone can see it’s clearly our fault.’

But aren’t these guys bothered by it?

I glanced at Develania, who maintained her consistent attitude, and Ben, who was only focused on my condition.

Develania, who hadn’t missed my gaze, subtly nodded and called out to Gaisitel.

“It would be troublesome if we couldn’t leave the city. You have a mission to complete, don’t you, Commander of the 10th Corps?”

“The 10th Corps is always prepared to defend the city.”

Gaisitel, who had finished preparing at some point, appeared leading a demonic horse emanating the black aura unique to the Demon Realm.

Likewise, the members of the 10th Corps were fully prepared, each holding the reins of their horses and standing behind Gaisitel.

If the 2nd Corps led by Develania specializes in attacks using threads and setting traps, the 10th Corps specializes in ‘mounted combat’.

A corps commander with wings specializing in mounted combat, it’s a slightly odd combination, but it’s not my place to care.

Knowing that the demonic horses they ride are carnivorous, I silently took a step back instead of saying anything.

Then Ben stepped forward as if to speak for me.

“Ha, are you trying to avoid taking responsibility?”

“…For a physician, you’re quite persistent. I don’t think it’s your place to interfere.”

“Well, the adjutant of the Commander of the 0th Legion, who isn’t here, told me something. Since Demon-nim doesn’t speak much, I was told to keep an eye on him at all times and anticipate what he wants to say.”

…Huh? Me?

“In that sense, I will speak on behalf of Demon-nim. Since this is an emergency, we’ll let you go, but no matter how Gaisitel-nim acts, the matter regarding the border will be reported to the Demon King.”

Why are you speaking for me? Couldn’t you just say you’re saying it?

As expected, Gaisitel’s sharp gaze went from Ben to me. The look he gave me seemed more like he was trying to gauge my reaction than glare at me, but surely that was just my imagination.

He gripped the reins tightly in his hand, bowed to me once, and then mounted his horse. The members of the 10th Corps, who had also mounted their horses, stood behind Gaisitel at the city gate.

Then, a strained voice rang out.

“Open the gate.”

The 10th Corps Commander’s duty is to protect the city. Without a word, the gate opened.

The 10th Corps, riding black demonic horses, charged out through the half-opened gate, prepared for the monsters.

Thud thud thud thud!!

‘Oh… that’s actually pretty cool…?’

I blankly watched the black aura billowing from the horses like tails that dissipated belatedly, then glanced at the gate that was closing again.

And I couldn’t believe my eyes.

It wasn’t because monsters had entered. Thankfully, no monsters had gotten in. But….

Thud thud thud thud!!

‘What are they doing….’

The 10th Corps, who had just left, returned.

The last member of the corps entered just before the gate closed, and with a thud— the gate slammed shut as the roars of monsters echoed from beyond.

Gaisitel, his face pale, grabbed Develania by the collar.

“There are too many of them!”