Chapter 279: Seeds of Doubt

Even without that, there was something already bothering me.

‘If Develania’s intelligence network is so efficient, she should have noticed something by now. Why hasn’t she said anything?’

The communication stone broke when the support troops departed from each country, so we missed the initial contact. But even getting information at that point would have been absurd. At the very least, we should have known beforehand that ‘something was happening between the nations’ and prepared accordingly.

“Come to think of it, the number of times we’ve been meeting has decreased recently.”

“Sir Deon has been exceptionally busy with official duties.”

A response came back immediately to my abruptly cut-off mutter.

Deon looked up at that. Our eyes met, and she curved her eyes into a smile as if to show off. Just before Develania’s red pupils disappeared behind her eyelids, I caught a glimpse of mockery.

…Could it be because she’s been here for so long? She seems to resemble the Lord Demon King more and more. Reflexively, the corner of her lips twitched.

“Even the written reports have decreased in quantity. If that was out of consideration for me, I should probably express my gratitude.”

“……”

“Well, that’s not what I’m trying to argue about right now.”

Getting up from his seat, he sat down on the sofa placed to one side.

At his beckoning gesture, Develania, who had been standing, sat down opposite him. A brief silence flowed, and as she watched Deon extinguish his cigarette on his thigh, she suddenly opened her mouth.

“Actually, before the incident, the Empire sent an envoy to Rweche.”

“……”

“But, yes. I didn’t tell Sir Deon about it.”

I knew it. There’s no way she wouldn’t have known.

Dry eyes turned to her as if demanding a reason. The answer came back readily.

“Legion commanders connected to Sir Deon are dying off one by one, you see.”

The content was extremely heavy.

“Even outwardly, not only the 10th Legion Commander and the 8th Legion Commander, who are associated with Sir Deon, but also the 5th Legion Commander, who seemed unrelated at first glance, has been frequently visiting the Lofty Knights’ training grounds, showing indirect connections from some point on.”

“……”

“Of course, the 5th Legion Commander’s case might be a coincidence…”

But her eyes already seemed convinced it wasn’t a coincidence.

A silence of a different dimension descended.

Piercing red eyes stared intently at Develania as if to see through her inner thoughts. Even under the gaze of oppressive eyes, she didn’t back down and met his gaze. A tense atmosphere flowed.

As if her words weren’t finished yet, a voice followed, pushing away the silence.

“Even in this war, only the humans under Sir Deon returned safely. So, Sir Deon,”

“……”

“If another legion commander dies, who do you think will be next?”

The air froze.

Deon, still seated, glared at Develania without moving. In the tension, a low voice erupted as if growling.

“Nonsense.”

“…Of course.”

Only then did Develania smile brightly.

“It’s just a joke, naturally. There’s no way I would dare to suspect Sir Deon, right? It’s just that as a legion commander handling information, I felt I had to address the suspicious situation we’re in.”

Dare to suspect? She’s blatantly suspecting me right now.

“So, what are you trying to say?”

“I apologize for omitting information. I was excessively wary of the suspiciousness and ended up making a mistake.”

…Should I kill her? Deon flicked his fingertips almost imperceptibly.

But too many legion commanders have already died. Now that Develania has started to suspect, it’s only a matter of time before other legion commanders, including Idelia, become suspicious as well. With justification, even if I cause trouble here, the Demon King would surely protect me, but regardless, it would be an action that would accelerate the legion commanders’ suspicions.

“…I hope this kind of thing doesn’t happen again.”

“Of course.”

Killing her is too much of a stretch. In the end, Deon obediently took a step back.

Of course, that doesn’t mean I can’t touch her at all.

“You’re not planning to end this with just a single apology, are you?”

“…Yes?”

“It’s fair to say that the outcome of this war turned out this way because of your one mistake.”

In my heart, I want to make this issue public and punish her… but then the reason why she did it will also come out. The demons’ gazes will turn back to me again.

I can’t kill you privately, and I can’t make it public because of the bomb you’re holding, but I can at least screw you over a little. Deon grinned.

“The Empire, Sanguo, Rweche, and even Esperance. You’re responsible for gathering all information about their movements.”

“Underst…”

“Ah, and since this happened because of your mistake, don’t bother making other guys do it. What if it gets missed by mistake? You made a mistake, how about those underlings?”

“……”

“Surely you don’t want to create a situation like this again, do you?”

Get to work, slave.

Deon deliberately smiled mischievously, enjoying Develania’s speechless face. He wasn’t worried that she would commit information omissions again.

This time, he entrusted the work entirely to Develania herself. He stated it clearly face-to-face, and since she has no subordinates to use, if information omissions occur this time as well, she cannot avoid responsibility.

She can’t just gloss over it by cutting off some underling’s head, that’s for sure.

“I… understand.”

A slightly trembling voice returned.

Develania stood up from her seat with a slightly stiff face. As Deon watched her, grinning, as if she was about to leave, he opened his mouth.

“I’m not done talking yet.”

“…Please speak.”

“There’s a report that Rweche is hiding a Hero, but the scale isn’t accurate.”

“I’ll try to find out, but… I’d like to recommend talking to Ed first. Ed is the one who received the order to attack Rweche from Sir Deon, and Ed is also the one who faced the Heroes while attacking Rweche, right? As your adjutant, it shouldn’t be difficult to meet him.”

“……”

That’s true.

It seems I was unknowingly excluding that guy from my thoughts because he’s bothersome.

Because I collapsed… no, because I was asleep for a bit longer, I couldn’t issue additional orders, and due to the unexpected appearance of Heroes, the Demon King issued a recall order instead. Thanks to that, when I opened my eyes, I was reminded of my adjutant who had been staying by my side, trying to help in any way possible, and my expression naturally became strange.

‘Come to think of it… did I thank Ed for his hard work?’

Even so, he faithfully carried out his orders.

In the meantime, Develania glanced subtly towards the door.

“…There are visitors. I should leave before I become a hindrance.”

No sooner had she finished speaking than the door burst open. And then, an echoing shout.

“DAE-JANG!!”

“…Yeah.”

Deon, looking at the door that opened almost at the same time as a knock, as if dumbfounded, glanced back at where Develania had been. She had already disappeared quickly.

Only then did Deon turn his gaze to the mad dogs with a slightly relaxed face. Seeing Dan following behind, I could tell that he had brought these guys, but I didn’t bother mentioning it.

“Why are you here?”

“Why am I here, you ask!”

“Are you really asking because you don’t know?”

“……”

There are too many things to point out, I don’t know what to say.

Deon just shut his mouth.

***

I knew that Sir Deon cherished the mad dogs he raised, but seeing the mad dogs acting so brazenly in person, I felt dizzy. And how about Sir Deon who accepts it all.

Develania hurriedly left the scene, feeling like she might receive unnecessary shock if she stayed there unnecessarily. The door was packed with people, but since the window was open, she didn’t attract the attention of the visitors.

Thump, thump.

The Demon King’s castle has high ceilings, so I always end up making mistakes like this. Develania, who had tumbled and fallen through the warehouse window on the lower floor, jumped up, dusted off her clothes, and went out the door.

A straight hallway appeared, and two demons walking ahead came into view. Her eyes narrowed at the familiar backs.

‘Myers and… is that his adjutant next to him?’

12th Legion Commander Myers and his adjutant Dahar. At first glance, they seemed to be walking while having a business-related conversation like other typical legion commanders, but the faintly audible conversation was unusual. She silenced her presence and focused on their conversation.

“Shoulders straight… and li-lift your head, I said.(Lift your head, I said.)”

“Yeah.”

“When I say it like this! …You’re supposed to say you know.”

There might be other demons in the hallway, you know.

“Yeah.”

“……”

“…Sorry.”

“Don’t you dare apologize.(Don’t apologize.)”

As expected, Myers is getting nagged at diligently again today.

‘Their relationship is quite interesting.’

It’s as unique as Oel and Derniban’s.

No matter how low his self-confidence is, Myers is still a legion commander in name and reality. He should be able to cut down a presumptuous adjutant as soon as he finds him annoying. Even though he only lacks confidence, unlike Hel, the former 8th Legion Commander, his self-esteem isn’t that low, so he wouldn’t leave an adjutant who’s genuinely trying to climb over him alone.

Nevertheless, the reason he just leaves this adjutant who constantly nags at him alone is probably because he knows that the nagging comes from concern.

Concern that his superior might be looked down upon somewhere, a desire for him to be more confident. In other words, it means Dahar cherishes his superior that much.

‘…He could be useful?’

Develania smiled.

As if they had arrived in front of the room, the two demons parted ways. Dahar, who turned back, leaving behind nagging words full of worry until the very end, was startled to find the 2nd Legion Commander standing in front of him at some point.

The surprise was brief.

“Greetings, 2nd Legion Commander. It’s been a while.”

“Yes, it feels like it’s been a while.”

“Did you have something to say to me?”

His tongue, honed to make up for his superior’s poor speaking skills, moved smoothly. Develania liked that quite a bit, so she lightly shrugged her shoulders, intending to ease the tension.

“Well… maybe?”

“Then it would be better to move to another location. Please, allow me to escort you.”

Good sense, and perceptive too.

Except for the nagging, he’s a guy I like every time I see him. She watched Dahar’s back as he led the way, then started walking.

The place he guided her to was his personal office, not even the legion commander’s office.

Even though it was his adjutant’s personal office, not a small amount of paperwork was piled up. Develania looked around and made a face of disgust. He works in the legion commander’s office, and also in his own office… when does this guy ever get off work?

Clatter— A teacup was placed on a small table.

There’s no need to go this far. She stared blankly at the tea, then silently lifted the cup.

“…You cherish your superior quite a bit, don’t you?”

“It would be presumptuous for an adjutant to express their feelings for their superior as ‘cherishing’.”

“Is that so? Then… shall we correct it to ‘precious’? Anyway, as long as the meaning gets across.”

“Precious… I’m not sure about that, but I understand what you want to say. But, why are you asking me that…”

Instead of giving a positive or negative answer, Dahar changed the subject. However, Develania, who had obtained a sufficient answer from his pupils, which were moving this way and that without hiding his agitation, gave a smooth smile as if she understood.

“I was impressed by your loyalty. So, I’m going to tell you something special.”

“Yes? What is it…”

“A story that might be related to your superior’s life.”

“……!”

A legion commander, especially the 2nd Legion Commander who gathers information, would never talk nonsense. As if he had never been surprised, Dahar changed his posture.

Develania, seeing his sharp eyes, smiled leisurely. Unlike her lips, which drew a curve, her eyes were shining as sharply as her opponent’s.