Chapter 265: Affection and Orders

Lirinel liked Deon Hart. Not in the way humans often spoke of romantic love.

It was something far more elevated and blind. She smiled softly at the communication stone, as if he could see her.

The example must have been quite shocking, as the silent person on the other end finally spoke.

– …Why go that far?

“Well,”

Since becoming the Commander of the 0th Legion and Deon Hart joining, she had received a new kind of affection for the first time in her life.

It was something akin to the affection humans showed to immature beings—children, they called them. As a legion commander, it could be seen as insulting, but the subtle affection from Deon, a figure she revered and who always seemed distant and unapproachable, brought her inexplicable pleasure and joy.

“Sir Deon is… um, how should I put it… ah! Kind! He’s kind, isn’t he!”

– …Me?

“Yes.”

The response conveyed not agreement, but a lack of understanding. Still, Lirinel remained steadfast.

After all, ‘immature beings’ meant the weak. In a world where the weak were naturally eliminated, Deon Hart’s willingness to care for them was surely due to his inherent goodness.

By the time she realized it, she was already deeply immersed in the kindness emanating from his goodness.

‘Sir Deon probably doesn’t realize it.’

He probably just thinks it’s because of my appearance.

Of course, appearance wasn’t entirely irrelevant… No, in fact, it might be quite significant…!

But without that foundation of unfamiliar affection based on kindness, she wouldn’t have become this blindly devoted.

‘And of course, I have no intention of telling him.’

He’ll probably never know.

– Uh… okay… thanks.

A lukewarm reply came back, as if he had much to say but didn’t want to argue.

– Well… nothing else to say? Hanging up now.

“Yes!… No, wait! Um, I’m not sure if I should mention this, but I thought it would be better to report it anyway…”

– …What is it?

“Um…”

Should I even say this?

She briefly worried if this fell under the scope of the Demon King’s warning not to speak carelessly, but Lirinel soon opened her mouth.

“The Demon Church that advanced into the Human Realm is currently on the verge of annihilation.”

This news had already been conveyed when the current Emperor swept away the Demon Church’s base, so it should be okay to mention.

Although only a small number survived then, they were almost entirely used up this time in the operation to eliminate the leader of the Revolutionary Army.

She swallowed the rest of her words and continued.

“It’s practically over, you should see it as…”

– Is that so?

“W-well… of course, it wouldn’t be impossible to rebuild if you put in the effort, if you wish…!”

– No, it’s fine. I was planning to clean it up soon anyway.

His voice was calmer than expected.

While a bewildered Lirinel blinked, an order was issued.

– Use this opportunity to withdraw from the Human Realm completely.

Despite her bewilderment, her answer was predictable.

“Yes…!”

***

The Demon Church is on the verge of annihilation? Figures.

Even when Elpidius wiped out the Demon Church, a few survived. If even they’re dead, it must be related to the recent news. Deon scoffed and took out a cigarette.

‘They threw them all in to eliminate the leader of the Revolutionary Army, huh.’

From the groundwork to secretly inserting Sia and supporting her, how many people must they have used up?

Yet, contrary to expectations, his mood didn’t plummet to its worst. Perhaps it was because of Lirinel’s blindly devoted attitude, which was even more intense than he’d imagined. Deon roughly assessed the situation, ended the communication, and stood up.

Whether it was thanks to her or not, his emotions were settled anyway, so it was time to move.

‘Where are those mad dogs?’

Will they be behaving themselves in the barracks?

An odd sense of unease lingered. He tapped the cigarette in his mouth, and unable to shake off his worry, he went outside.

And as expected.

There’s no way these guys would be behaving. …No, wait, they did stay in the barracks for now, should I praise them?

‘What’s going on now?’

Arriving in the mad dogs’ area, Deon stopped in his tracks at the scene before him. Amidst the usual commotion, Kleter was grabbing Dan by the collar and shaking him vigorously.

“Tell me, tell me!”

“Gack, could you let go of me first…”

“Shut up!”

“…”

What’s with telling someone to talk and shut up at the same time? How’s he supposed to talk if you don’t let go?

Thanks to the mind-boggling scene that greeted him upon arrival, Deon didn’t even react to seeing Dan. He had thought of avoiding Dan for a while, but really…

Just then, Milan, who had been chuckling as he watched them, suddenly stiffened his expression and sniffed the air.

“…Hey, doesn’t it smell like medicine somewhere?”

“…Come to think of it…”

“Who the hell is using medicine when there’s no battle!?!”

Oops. In a hurry, he stubbed out his cigarette on his neck.

And at the same time, his eyes met Milan’s. Seeing Milan’s eyes widen and mouth open, Deon resigned himself and crumpled the cigarette butt on the floor.

“…Damn it. It’s going to get noisy again.”

“Captain! How could you stub out a cigarette on your neck!! No, before that, medicine again!”

“What?!”

“Captain! What are you doing!”

In an instant, the guys swarmed around him. Among them was Kleter, who had been shaking Dan by the collar just moments ago.

Deon glanced at Dan, who was gingerly rubbing his neck, then turned his gaze back to the mad dogs as if he hadn’t looked at Dan at all. Their flustered movements came into view.

“Candy! No, bandage! Herbs!”

“You guys seem to forget I’m the Hero sometimes. I’m already healed.”

“Then candy!”

“…”

He obediently accepted it before it got any louder.

As he rolled the sweet lump of sugar in his mouth, Kleter, finally seeming to regain his senses, asked.

“What brings you here?”

“Ah, I have something to order.”

Showing some sense, they didn’t ask what happened with Dan. Judging from how Kleter was shaking Dan by the collar demanding answers, they were more than aware that something had happened, and seemed quite curious about the whole story.

Mad dogs suppressing their curiosity.

“…”

“…?”

As the silence stretched longer than expected, and questions began to surface in their eyes, Deon slowly moved his gaze.

Deon focused on Milan, who was standing at the front of the mad dogs, before opening his mouth.

“Milan, and… Kleter.”

“Yes, Captain!”

“Speak.”

“The two of you will need to go and stay with the Commander of the 10th Corps for a while.”

He was starting to get tired. Or had he been tired from the beginning?

Anyway, he had to finish this quickly, or he’d feel suffocated and die.

“Until he dies… don’t stray more than 2 meters away from him. Even if you have to distance yourselves a bit, no more than 3 meters.”

Sanguo would attack the 10th Corps soon.

Although they were currently operating within Sanguo’s magic suppression array, the Commander of the 10th Corps was skilled in cavalry and had wings, making him mobile enough to break through and escape the array’s range.

The mad dogs’ shoulder epaulets contained charms. One type on each shoulder. He remembered there were charms that imposed the same restrictions on opposing demons as in the Human Realm, and charms that suppressed demon magic, albeit in a limited range, even in the Demon Realm.

‘I know the effective range is up to 3 meters, but it’s better to emphasize 2 meters just in case.’

The guys, realizing it was an order, changed their expressions. Deon met their gazes and slowly continued. ─But.

“But… if your lives are in danger, get out of there immediately.”

The reason for choosing Milan and Kleter out of all these guys was simple.

They needed to be perceptive and able to withdraw at a moment’s notice, which required both strong martial prowess and a calm mind. Unfortunately, there was no one here who possessed both, so he had to send two guys who each had one of those qualities.

In that sense, Milan, the strongest among the knights, and Kleter, the most composed, were perfect.

‘Composed… right…?’

The first thing he saw upon arriving was Kleter grabbing Dan by the collar and shaking him, but he was still the most composed guy among these. He’d stop Milan at the right time, probably.

‘Sir Lien used to be good at controlling the mad dogs…’

The blood stench wafted around. The stench of blood, which had become commonplace, gave him a headache again. Deon subtly frowned, then composed his expression.

“…Anyway, the most important thing is your lives. You remember our knight order’s motto, right?”

Everything for survival.

“Carry out the order, but keep that motto in mind as you act.”

“…Understood.”

“?”

Their responses were obedient, but their expressions were strange. The expressions of the guys around them were the same.

Unable to understand the situation, Deon frowned.

“What’s with the emotional looks?”

“Captaaaain…”

“…Don’t come closer.”

“Despite everything, you still value us the most, don’t you…!”

“…Who does? No, I said don’t come closer?”

He faltered and stepped back.

But there was no way the mad dogs would back down with just that. They rushed towards Deon without hesitation.

The sight of burly men rushing towards a relatively small young man.

‘Quite a sight.’

Dan, who had been tidying his clothes and observing the situation, muttered to himself inwardly.

After that, the madly pouring affectionate touches continued until Deon, unable to bear it any longer, drew ‘Jinjeong’.

***

Paul was dead. Gone so meaninglessly.

Iram, who had been waiting for that day’s lesson, received the news and was momentarily stunned. It was the typical reaction of those who couldn’t accept the situation.

‘…I haven’t even learned everything yet.’

His death was brought about by the person he loved most.

This was one thing Daniel had taught wrong. Because Daniel had blindly loved only one person, it seemed Paul had also passed away while only looking at one person.

Moreover, the person Paul had accepted as family and watched over was someone unrelated by blood, unlike Daniel.

‘What should I do now?’

Paul had departed without passing on all his teachings.

Before starting, he had been told that it was a dangerous ideology to learn and use haphazardly, and that if the teachings were interrupted before being fully learned, they should be discarded…

‘As Paul said, to survive the current war and its aftermath, Paul’s method is more suitable than Daniel’s.’

Wasn’t it too wasteful to discard it like this? He had almost learned it completely, with only minor adjustments left.

“…At this point, wouldn’t it be okay to just use it?”

Iram earnestly hoped for the revolution to succeed. Especially since he had joined as an early member against Daniel’s ideology, his desire was even stronger.

Therefore, to protect the Revolutionary Army, he made a decision.

‘Let’s use the ideology Paul devised.’

Without him, the future looked quite bleak. It was fortunate that he had learned what he could, at least.

As Paul had said, he needed to find a suitable successor to pass on the knowledge… but he doubted if he could find one.

Watching Daniel bring Paul, teach him, and then Paul grow to lead the Revolutionary Army, his expectations for a ‘leader’ had become too high…

‘First… let’s fix things internally.’

He would protect the Revolutionary Army by minimizing his presence, as if he were invisible. He needed to minimize troop waste and start organizing the internal system. The executives, who valued their lives and stability, would obediently follow, so there would be no obstacles.

Knock knock.

“Mr. Iram, there’s information that someone who appears to be an envoy from the Empire is heading to Rweche…”

“Ignore it. There’s nothing we can do right now anyway.”

“Ah…”

“Suspend all activities for the time being. Fixing ourselves is the priority.”

He briefly mourned Paul, Daniel’s greatest creation, then Iram returned to reality and picked up the paperwork as the acting leader.

It would be best to start by figuring out how Sia had deceived everyone and gotten in there. Digging into that would help identify internal threats.

Time passed since then.

The Revolutionary Army, having thoroughly rooted out internal threats, slowly and naturally went underground, based on Iram’s judgment that suddenly disappearing would be suspicious.

Their movements were so subtle and passive that it appeared as if they had naturally disbanded due to the leader’s death. Major figures of various factions, already preoccupied with many other concerns, quickly lost interest.

It didn’t take long for the Revolutionary Army’s existence to be forgotten.