Chapter 201: A Necessary Summons

“Seriously, aren’t you going too far? We fed you, housed you, and taught you! You ungrateful little…!”

“Master fed and housed me. Master also gave me the opportunity to learn.”

“But we’re the ones who actually taught you!”

“I am grateful for that. But my owner is Master.”

Seemingly speechless, the hardened fools could only gape before finally retreating powerlessly.

Just as the mad dogs were chased out of the room and the door was about to close completely, one of them seemed to remember something and urgently shouted through the door crack.

“Captain! Don’t just take any random drugs because we’re not there!”

“……”

So, the drug was the cause of this situation after all.

Their concern was touching… but regardless, Dan coldly closed the door and turned around. Deon Hart, who had been wielding a dagger and rampaging just moments ago, was now rapidly losing energy and clumsily crawling into bed.

Watching him, an inexplicable irritation welled up within Dan.

“…How long are you going to keep this up?”

A slightly cold voice escaped Dan’s lips.

Deon, now in bed, turned his head to look at Dan. His unfathomable red eyes blinked languidly behind drooping eyelids.

Halting footsteps resumed, and Dan approached him.

“Judging by your attitude, it seems you’ve achieved your goal.”

“……”

“It’s fine for you to act like this in front of me, but it’ll be troublesome if you drag this out to the point where outsiders notice.”

It’s alright if you show it to me. As long as I keep my mouth shut, there won’t be any problems.

But if you show such vulnerability to others, it could become a weakness, which is problematic.

Dan reached out. A temperature lower than average was felt at his fingertips, and soon his entire palm was filled with the lukewarm temperature of another person’s skin.

Was it because Deon knew Dan harbored no killing intent, or was it simply because he was confident in his own survival? The looming disaster before him offered his neck without resistance.

“Do you know this?”

Dan applied a slight pressure to his hand, as if threatening him.

“Your attitude irritates me. If this goes further, it will turn into hatred.”

“……”

“I’ve been very patient. This is enough, so get yourself together.”

Dan slowly removed his hand and stepped back.

Deon, who had been watching Dan move away with only his pupils, slowly opened his mouth. His calm voice posed an unexpected question.

“How is the Human Realm situation?”

“……”

“You must have gone to the Human Realm while I was resting. Tell me, even small details are fine. How was it?”

“…Lowfell Trading Company has completely collapsed. I heard their entire family suffered a disaster.”

Dan recited the word disaster, just as the rumors said, but Dan knew. Deon Hart probably knew it too as soon as he heard it.

It was Stigma Primiero’s doing. Anyone who deals with information would know. To be killed by a bastard child he had disregarded, how must he have felt?

Indeed, one should not make enemies carelessly. Who knows what the opponent will become in the future.

‘Not that I should be talking.’

Even Deon Hart right now was in a situation where he might make an enemy with his current behavior.

Dan clicked his tongue inwardly and refocused on Deon, who continued speaking.

“With your rival gone, your trading company must have established a complete monopoly.”

“There are still some small trading companies… but for the most part, you could say that.”

“Then that’s good. Keep maintaining that state.”

“……”

Dan, pausing, looked at Deon. Red eyes met his wavering gaze, curving languidly. Contrasting with that languidness, a distinct voice filled the room.

“Did you say, judging by my attitude, it seems I’ve achieved my goal?”

“……”

“Hardly.”

There’s no way that could be true.

He wasn’t exhausted. Even if he wanted to be exhausted, he couldn’t be yet because he still had a long way to go.

“I’m just waiting.”

Waiting for the Demon King, who had heard about his condition, to make a move.

And in that process, hopefully consume more magic power.

Even if there was no magic power consumption, he could take a break and engage in a psychological battle, so there was nothing to lose. And…

Deon, rising like lightning, instantly grabbed Dan’s neck and pushed him back. As if retaliating for what he had endured, he applied pressure to Dan’s neck, just enough to make it difficult to breathe, and spoke.

“You said you’ve been very patient? Too bad. You’ll have to be a little more patient.”

“…Haha.”

An added pressure, a warning not to get cocky.

Dan realized he had worried needlessly. He raised both hands in a gesture of obedience. A smile he couldn’t hide was already forming on his lips.

“If that’s the reason, then by all means.”

***

No ruler would tolerate a commander-in-chief being idle for two weeks. Eventually, the Demon King summoned Deon Hart.

‘It took longer than I expected.’

Two weeks was quite a long time to endure.

Was this the first face-to-face meeting since returning to the Demon King’s castle? Deon faintly raised the corner of his lips as he walked across the hallway towards the Demon King’s office, wondering what he would say.

Knock, knock.

“Come in.”

As soon as permission was granted, he opened the door and stood in front of the desk where the Demon King was. The office, after a long time, was no different from when he had last been there, so there was no need to look around anew.

The Demon King, who had been scribbling with a pen at his desk, raised his head and looked at Deon. The first words uttered towards the human who had dared to submit a report and then shut himself in his room, abandoning all work to rest, were unbelievable.

“You’ve come?”

Whether it was as expected or unexpected. It was a bland and clean voice, devoid of anger, let alone irritation.

Of course, that thought was soon overturned by the following remark.

“Is it because you’ve become a Hero? It’s hard to even catch a glimpse of your face.”

“……”

“What can I do? You’re a noble Hero, after all. Aren’t you?”

Ah, this was a bit unexpected. Not anger, but sarcasm.

Deon opened his mouth awkwardly.

“You didn’t summon me.”

“That’s true.”

The Demon King, readily agreeing with the lame excuse, pointed to a sofa with the tip of his pen. A voice so ordinary it embarrassed the slightly tense Deon flowed out.

“I still have work to do, so wait for a bit.”

He summoned me, only to tell me to wait. Could this be revenge?

As instructed, Deon sat on the sofa and watched the Demon King handling paperwork. He had worried that his killing intent would surge the moment he saw that face, but perhaps because it felt unreal, he was surprisingly calm.

‘Maybe it’s because I’ve never seen him like this before.’

Whenever Deon visited, the Demon King would stop his paperwork and attend to him, so Deon had never seen him working.

Thanks to that, he had the opportunity to observe him leisurely, but there wasn’t much he could discern, except that the amount of paperwork had clearly increased compared to before.

It was probably because there were more things to pay attention to as the war progressed.

‘…I’m sleepy.’

Deon rubbed his dry eyes.

It seemed that his body had adapted to this languid state from constantly lazing around. It was definitely not a mental issue.

‘How long has it been since I woke up?’

He was really sleepy. To the point where he felt he might doze off.

He didn’t want to fall asleep here because he would have nightmares if he slept anywhere other than his room, but when would the Demon King finish his paperwork and attend to him?

To fight off sleepiness, Deon picked up a snack placed on the table and ate it, and became certain. This was definitely revenge.

And then he slept.

Deon abruptly opened his eyes, reflexively grabbing the hand that reached out to him and blankly blinking. He couldn’t grasp when he had fallen asleep, and his sense of reality was hazy.

He was flustered himself, but an inexplicable compulsion to say something arose, and he belatedly opened his mouth.

“…What is it?”

“You seemed to be having a nightmare.”

“Ah.”

That’s strange. He had no memory of having a nightmare.

Rather, he had slept soundly as if he were in his room. No, perhaps even more so….

“Looks like you’re ready to talk now?”

“…I was already ready to talk.”

Now was not the time to focus on such trivial matters. Shaking off his wandering thoughts, he got up from the spot where he didn’t even know he had lain down. As he did, the blanket that had been covering him slipped off.

‘…Blanket?’

The Demon King smiled gently at his gaze.

Deon, looking back and forth between the blanket and the Demon King, decided to overlook the trivial matter this time as well.

“Is it that you, Lord Demon King, have finally found time to talk?”

“Time was always there from the beginning. I just postponed it because it seemed like you needed time more than I did.”

“…?”

“You didn’t seem to be in a good state when you first came in. Right?”

Call it experience, or perhaps insight. The Demon King simply knew.

Deon Hart, who had returned to the Demon King’s castle, needed time to recover his exhausted mind. That was why he had instinctively sought leisure and taken a long rest.

He had called him now, thinking he would be somewhat better, but Deon Hart, who had opened the office door and entered, was somehow on edge. In that state, having a conversation would only easily escalate negative emotions.

Therefore, he had given him time.

“…Forget the small talk and get to the point.”

His wariness seemed to remain.

But compared to when he first entered the office, he seemed a little less tense, with his shoulders slightly relaxed.

If you say so. The Demon King shrugged lightly and said.

“I was hoping you’d slowly get back to work.”

“……”

“It’s troublesome if you completely take your hands off the Human Realm conquest like you are now. Wasn’t our deal to wholeheartedly help each other?”

“……”

“Besides, the demons have drastically decreased due to the war with the Empire, but magical beasts have increased significantly. In short, we’re in a situation where we lack troops.”

Deon, who had been silently fiddling with the blanket, raised his head. Gazes met, and red pupils hid between narrowed eyes.

“I’ve been thinking about this since before.”

Facing him up close, the killing intent he had forgotten surged again.

But he mustn’t show even a hint of it. The being before him wouldn’t miss even the smallest gap.

Suppressing his killing intent, he hid his eyes, which could reveal his inner thoughts, behind a smile. He hardened his expression.

“If it really comes down to it, couldn’t Lord Demon King personally step in to deal with the magical beasts? Last time I saw, you dealt with them in an instant.”

When magical beasts invaded the Fairy territory where the leaders of each race had gathered, the Demon King had personally stepped in and easily dealt with them before returning.

“It’s better to conserve magic power as much as possible.”

“Since when did you start conserving magic power so suddenly…? Is magic power so important that it needs to be conserved even in the current situation? More important than the demons?”

“……”

“No, there’s no way Lord Demon King would do that… It seems something personal has happened to you.”

…He’s probing me.

Not to be outdone, the Demon King smoothly raised the corner of his lips. He folded his eyes into crescents, hiding his reversed pupils with a smile, and spoke.

“Personal matter… Let’s just say it’s to prepare for when an unexpected enemy appears. We are in the middle of a war, aren’t we?”

“The Demon King’s only nemesis, the Hero, has become an ally, so is there really an unexpected enemy? Even if there is, they wouldn’t be that threatening.”

“You never know how things will turn out in the world. More importantly, it seems the Hero’s enthusiasm for conquering the Human Realm has waned….”

The Demon King, smoothly changing the subject, sat on the armrest of the sofa, looking at Deon without losing his smile.

A seemingly playful voice filled the office.

“What should I do to rekindle the Hero’s enthusiasm?”

“…It’s not like I ever had any desire to conquer the Human Realm in the first place.”

Words laced with subtle sarcasm burst out.

He had known from the beginning. This condition was merely set by the Demon King hoping that Deon Hart would entertain him more. Without any grand reason, the Demon King had simply chosen the place where he could use his toy most actively.

Even so.

“But a promise is a promise.”

Hearing that, Deon had nothing to say. He muttered meaningless words in discontent.

“But….”

“I.”

…The atmosphere changed.

The Demon King, who had lightly cut off his words, stood up from his seat. Taking a step, he narrowed the distance and reached out his hand.

“I thought I had brought in a well-behaved dog.”

“……”

His fingertips touched the spot where the mark should originally be. A smooth spot where nothing existed now that he had become a Hero.

As if dissatisfied with that, he pressed down hard with his nails. A stinging sensation followed, and a languid voice continued.

“Where did the dog go and why is there a fox here instead?”

“…So.”

The stinging pain that should have subsided by now persisted.

Crazy bastard, he injected magic power. When he was insisting on conserving magic power, he wasted it to create a small wound that wouldn’t heal easily.

…No. For the Demon King, it might have been an experiment to gain certainty. An experiment to gain certainty that even the Hero’s body would not heal easily if wounded by magic power.

Either way, it was equally disgusting. Nevertheless, Deon smiled and brought up words he had once said.

“Are you going to kill me?”