Chapter 96: The Time Has Come

Before I knew it, the Demon King’s castle gates were right in front of me.

Finally, freedom…! I thought my ears would bleed.

“Demon-nim, are your ears bleeding?!”

Huh, was it actually bleeding?

I touched my ear with my finger and saw blood. Ben, who was watching me, called out with concern.

“It will take some time to get to the inner section, so you should get in the carriage for treatment.”

“Oh, then me too!”

…….

It was only natural that I was speechless.

I had stepped out for some fresh air, but before long, I had to get back into the carriage. Neither positively nor negatively did my mood particularly change.

The Commander of the 5th Corps, who had been chattering beside me outside, followed me into the carriage. Only the location changed; the situation remained the same.

Inside the carriage were Ben, who came to examine me, Oel, who insisted on chattering, and her adjutant, Derniban. The carriage itself was very spacious, so it didn’t feel cramped, but my eardrums were another story.

“You know, Demon-nim, I heard that humans create and give birth to children directly from their wombs. I heard it’s not something you can just decide to do, but if you ‘love’ each other, it’s possible with a certain probability….”

…….

“…and children born that way are called ‘blessings.’ I wanted to have a blessing too, so I asked Derniban….”

She won’t stop talking!

It hasn’t even been long since Ben treated me, but signs of my ears bleeding again are already appearing.

For the sake of my eardrums’ swift liberation, I waited for the carriage to stop and the door to open, but what’s this?

Crack.

……!?

The carriage stopped, but instead of the door opening, it was ripped off!

And through the opened—no, ripped open—entrance, a beast as big as a house jumped in. Fortunately, the beast, which charged in so fast that only an afterimage remained, wasn’t aiming for me, but it instantly pounced on Derniban….

……?!

“What do you think you’re doing, Commander of the 9th Corps?”

“Let’s spar!”

Ah, it wasn’t a beast. I was mistaken by the afterimage.

The one who jumped into the carriage was Commander of the 9th Corps, Trober. He claims that ‘magic’ is his specialty, but in reality, he’s a bizarre commander who insists that the martial arts he uses after training his body to the limit is ‘magic.’

‘……Shit.’

I slowly moved towards the corner of the carriage.

Fortunately, Trober didn’t seem to notice my presence. Not until Derniban, who effortlessly blocked his punch, spoke in a voice as dry as his expression.

“The Commander of the 0th Legion is watching. Please refrain from your actions.”

“Huh?”

The beast’s… no, the Commander of the 9th Corps’ gaze landed on me.

In that instant, I saw his eyes light up like a beast that had found its prey.

Wait a minute… why bring me into this….

“Excuse me, Demon-nim. What excellent stealth. I couldn’t feel your presence at all.”

“Huh? No, I wasn’t exactly using stealth….”

When it comes to stealth, the Commander of the 2nd Corps is the one.

I frowned, thinking of Develania, who had been sitting alone on the carriage roof since joining the 5th Corps, probably not wanting to get caught up in Oel’s barrage of questions.

That traitor.

‘Come to think of it, Trober must have seen Develania before coming in, so why didn’t he bother her and came straight inside?’

As if pinpointing my question, Trober tilted his head, peering into the carriage.

“Now that I think about it, I saw the 2nd Corps among the troops deployed outside. Didn’t the Commander of the 2nd Corps come with you?”

“……Wasn’t she on the carriage roof?”

“Yes? Yes.”

…….

……?

That bad… where did she run off to, leaving me behind?

As I internally cursed Develania, a note slipped through the carriage window and landed on my lap.

[Demon-nim, I suddenly have something to take care of, so I’ll head off first. I apologize for not being able to see you to the end!]

“……Shit, seriously….”

She really ran!

I was quietly in shock, my hand holding the note trembling, but for some reason, Trober stepped back, averting his gaze and muttering.

“I was going to suggest a spar since you must be stiff from the long journey, but I guess it won’t work….”

You seem busy, and in a bad mood….

His voice trailed off. More than that, I was focused on the shocking thing I had just heard.

Spar? A spaaar? With me?

“Of course not…!”

I hurriedly stopped myself.

I almost said what came to mind without thinking. Since this is the Demon Realm, I need to consider my words before speaking, but I was a little surprised and excited.

Trober’s black, jagged-nailed, and ferocious-looking left hand belatedly caught my eye. As I quietly shut my mouth, my attending physician, Ben, who was watching my reaction, spoke up on my behalf.

“It’s not even worth answering.”

Wait, hold on.

“If someone has traveled a long distance, shouldn’t you consider that they might be tired before suggesting a spar? Not all demons have monstrous stamina like the Commander of the 9th Corps. Of course, our Demon-nim is human, though!”

“Humans are different from demons? How so?”

“Physically, humans are weaker. Of course, our Demon-nim is special!”

“How is Demon-nim special?”

“Oel-nim, I don’t think that’s an appropriate question to ask here.”

“Why?”

A maddening conversation with no meaning or purpose unfolded.

Meanwhile, Trober, who had been silent and deep in thought, raised his head and looked at Ben.

“Then… is it okay if I ask for a spar tomorrow?”

“To fully recover from travel fatigue, you should rest for a week. Especially considering Demon-nim’s physical condition with the aftereffects….”

“Great, a week!”

…….

Why is my sparring schedule being decided without my input…?

I should refuse immediately, but my gut is warning me that something worse might happen if I do.

‘If I refuse for no reason, misunderstandings might pile up, and things could go strangely wrong. It’s always been like that.’

Leaving me speechless and unable to refuse, Trober turned back to Derniban. Derniban was watching the situation unfold with his usual expressionless face.

“You’ll be okay with it, right?”

“As I’ve repeatedly said, my specialty is archery, not martial arts.”

“But you sparred well before. Are you going to refuse?”

He asked with an expression that suggested he would do something drastic if refused. There’s practically no choice.

Derniban seemed to have read that from Trober’s expression, as he paused for a moment, glanced at Oel, and slowly shook his head.

“No. I will spar.”

“Then….”

“But not right now.”

Trober, who was about to drag Derniban away, stopped.

His turning face clearly showed his displeasure. Unfazed by the commander’s anger, Derniban calmly stated his reasons.

“I need to organize the miscellaneous items Oel-nim brought, and also take care of the 5th Corps’ aftermath from the recent battles.”

“Miscellaneous items? They might be useful someday!”

“Anyway.”

“Then when will you be available? In a week too?”

“I know you won’t wait even if I say a week.”

Derniban, who had neatly folded his coat on one side of the carriage, loosened a couple of buttons on his tightly fastened shirt and held up two fingers.

“Please wait two hours.”

…….

The 2nd and 5th Corps disbanded. Ben, having completed his assigned task, returned to his room. I had already finished reporting everything to the Demon King via communication stone before departing, so I didn’t need to go see him and went straight to my room.

……Or rather, I intended to.

“Now, Demon-nim will be the judge.”

…….

Why am I here?

I sat blankly in the prepared seat before quietly rubbing my face.

Okay, I can concede that I’m here as the judge for Trober and Derniban’s spar. But those two aren’t the only ones here. Why is everyone gathered here?

“Who do you think will win?”

“Well, usually, I’d bet on Commander Trober winning, but… as you know, things are a little different with those two.”

“True, Derniban was offered the vacant Commander of the 9th Corps position before Trober….”

“Usually, everyone would eagerly accept a commander offer without it moving on, but this time, there were an unusual number of refusals, right?”

“That’s right. The first one offered was Commander of the 0th Legion’s adjutant, Ed, then Derniban, and after they both refused, it went to Trober.”

“Ed aside, why did Derniban refuse?”

Commander of the 11th Corps Lirinel, Commander of the 3rd Corps Asild, Commander of the 2nd Corps Develania, Commander of the 4th Corps Idelia, and Commander of the 1st Corps Jaykar.

Are you kidding me? Almost all the commanders stationed in the Demon King’s castle are gathered here. Don’t they have anything better to do?

‘Besides, when did Develania have time to run away saying she was busy….’

I surreptitiously glared at the demon sitting in a corner of the training grounds.

My heart was pounding. When Jaykar said, ‘Ed aside,’ and looked at me, how startled do you think I was? I didn’t flinch obviously enough to be embarrassing, but my heart almost stopped.

Fortunately, his gaze didn’t linger on me for long. Lirinel, looking quite excited, immediately answered.

“Oh, didn’t you know? Oel and Derniban are lovers.”

“……Derniban is dating someone?”

With Oel?

The unspoken words seemed to echo.

Lirinel didn’t bother answering the pointless question. She simply raised a finger and pointed somewhere.

There was Oel approaching Derniban.

“I read a romance novel from the Human Realm, and the knight going into battle would promise the heroine his victory.”

“Is that so.”

“Yeah. So Derniban, win and offer me your victory.”

“Understood.”

“Here, this is a reward in advance.”

Oel put her arms around Derniban’s neck and raised her heels. Derniban held her firmly by the waist as she clung to him, and soon their lips met and parted.

A blatant smacking sound echoed.

-Smack.

The faces of the commanders who witnessed the scene turned strange.

Regardless, Derniban, who was indifferent to everything, and Oel, who was in her own world, continued their conversation.

“How is it, Derniban? Does your heart feel like it’s beating?”

“My heart has always been beating.”

“No, not like that. Does it beat more specially or something?”

“It doesn’t seem different from usual.”

“Ah, that’s a problem. They say your heart needs to beat for love. That’s how you have babies….”

Even Jaykar, who had been maintaining a semblance of composure,’s face crumbled.

He made a face as if he didn’t know how to describe it, paused for a moment, and then slowly spoke as Develania rolled on the ground laughing in the distance.

“Do those two… not know that demons can’t have children?”

“Oel maybe not, but Derniban probably knows. It’s obvious. It’s not the first time Derniban has humored Oel. I just didn’t expect that humoring would extend to ‘love.'”

Idelia tapped her lips with her folded fan as she replied.

Demons are born from the Demon King’s power.

No matter how much those two love each other and intertwine their bodies like humans, a demon child cannot be born between them.

‘……I don’t care, I just want it to start quickly.’

Why am I sitting here listening to their love story?

Seeing that makes me feel sick. Is it jealousy? No, it’s cringey.

Oel and Derniban’s hard-to-watch antics only stopped after Trober, who had been waiting, yelled asking if they weren’t going to start.

In the barely settled atmosphere, Derniban and Trober faced each other, and the training ground became silent as if the commotion had never happened.

Amidst this, I could clearly feel the numerous gazes directed at me.

Yes, I’m the judge, so I know I need to say something….

‘What should I say?’

Are the rules of sparring in the Human Realm the same as in the Demon Realm?