"If you keep doing this, you'll get on Demon's bad side. There's no way you don't know that Commander Demon cares about this guy."
"...Ben."
"This guy didn't do anything wrong."
"What about Demon?"
He talked back. Should Hien consider himself lucky that he didn't kill the gardener?
Saying nice things to a guy like this didn't work.
Ben let out a deep sigh and immediately spoke bluntly.
"It seems like Demon doesn't like it."
"..."
"I told him that I would never let that incubus approach him again, but he didn't seem to like it."
Suddenly, the grip on Hien's neck loosened. Hien slid down to the floor, covered his throat and coughed.
Ed clicked his tongue in annoyance.
Ben, who ignored Ed and passed by, sat down in front of Hien with his legs bent and lifted his chin with his finger to check his condition.
"...Luckily there are no problems."
He let go and stood up. Ben glanced at Hien looking up at him and immediately laughed. A faint laugh dispelled the silence.
"Understand. He has bad memories of incubi and succubi."
"Yes?"
"He was originally an unbiased guy."
Unbelievable. Hien opened his eyes wide and looked at Ed.
There were two main standards by which demons treated others. 'Power' and 'a method of supplying energy necessary for biological activities'.
In the latter case, most demons gained energy through meals, and some demons did not need to do anything special or gain energy through something else.
It didn't matter how energy was obtained, but if energy could only be supplied through someone else, that demon will be looked down upon.
'A disgusting and vulgar demon that barely survives by living as a parasite on someone. That's the incubus and the succubus...'
Hien looked at Ed's annoyed expression. The face immediately distorted as soon as their eyes meet. Hien swallowed the words floating around in his mouth.
...It seems full of prejudice.
"It seems incredible."
"...I believe it."
Regardless of whether he understood it or not, he believed it. That way, he could understand him showing his disgust but not showing his hatred.
'If you say that right... I'm not the problem, it's the 'incubus' that's the problem, right? That's also because of Ed's personal feelings.'
Then he just had to keep out of sight!
A hopeful conclusion was reached.
It may be that Demon himself ordered him not to be seen, but didn't he say that he wanted to keep seeing him?
Of course, if he said it out loud, the attention of those two would be directed towards him, so he just kept it to himself.
At that time, a voice was heard.
"Ben, turn it off right now... no, no. You go back."
"Yes, yes?"
"Yes, gardener. Nothing good will come of staying here, so I'd better go back."
They were staring at each other without even casting a glance, but what they said was clear.
Since the two demons had the same will, there was nothing to worry about. Hien, who was watching the confrontation between the two with a bewildered expression, quietly retreated.
Ben, who was watching the back moving away, turned his head and made eye contact with the gaze glaring at him.
"Your facial expression is scary. If you did more, you would kill him."
"If I had said more there, it really would have happened that way."
"More? What? This is to a case where a succubus was mistaken for an incubus and a confession was made incorrectly..."
Boom!
The spot where Ben was standing caved in.
"Shut up."
"...This isn't a training ground."
Ben, who had already moved to avoid the hit, muttered as he looked at the floor where the harpoon was thrown. When he looked up, he made eye contact with Ed. A rare open face caught his eye and he burst into laughter.
"Calm down. Do you know what you look like now?"
"..."
"It's ugly. I'm sure you know that you can't mess with the gardener when you know that Commander Demon doesn't want you to. Besides, the gardener didn't do anything terribly wrong."
"..."
"Why don't you calm down and go to your place. By now, news of Demon's return should have spread throughout the Demon Castle. I guess there are a lot of visitors."
"..."
It was too much. Ed was so embarrassed that he overacted.
Ed remembered the incubus running wild in strange places and sighed, filled with self-pity.
He knew there was nothing wrong with the gardener. However, as a perfectionist, he just didn't like it because it reminded him of the most shameful memory in his life.
He wanted to avoid him, but he couldn't because of his position as Demon's lieutenant. So he tried to take advantage of this opportunity to get rid of him.
He knew implicitly that Demon didn't want to get rid of him completely, but he pretended not to know, using the excuse that it was for his sake. Even excluding personal feelings, the existence of the incubus was a factor in disparaging Demon's name, so there was no hesitation.
He was the adjutant of the Commander of the 0 Corps.
Considering that he should not put his personal feelings into acting for him, his current actions were disqualifying.
Ed, who had thought that far, raised his hand and wiped his face to come to his senses.
'Let's go back.'
In the past, whether the incubus played with his mind by lying about his gender or made him a laughing stock by publicizing his confession, that was just the past and had nothing to do with the gardener.
Let's forget it. The more sensitive you are, the more ridiculous you become.
He quickened his pace, thinking of Demon, who was waiting for him as he had done until now, burying his memories.
It was right in front of Deon's room that Ed met the 8th Corps Commander.
"Is it okay for me... to steal Demon's time...?"
"Why do you say that! Hell is a worthy Corps Commander! You weren't able to greet him properly last time, so you need to do it right this time!"
"But..."
The last time referred to the time when Demon goes out on a mission and the time he returns and stays in the Demon King's Castle.
Since they were demons who don't have any special seasonal changes and lived a long life, their concept of time was poor, so they roughly divided it by watching his movements. After listening to the conversation, Ed thought he knew who that black figure was.
A Corps Commander who was unable to say hello to Demon last time.
Various weapons hung not only on his back but also all over the body. And a black figure from head to toe.
"Commander of the 8th Corps?"
"...!"
He knew it.
Ed, who was convinced that the other's identity was the Commander of the 8th Corps, immediately bowed.
"The greeting was late. This is Ed, the adjutant of Corps Commander Demon Arut. Commander of the 8th Corps, what are you doing here?"
***
The Commander of the 8th Corps, squatting in front of the door, blamed himself as if he were going to fall into the ground. Next to him, his adjutant enthusiastically cheered him up, and Dvelania, who caused this situation, giggled under her breath.
'...Haha.'
This is shit.
I quietly watched the scene in front of me, then turned my head and looked at Ed.
The intention was to try to sort out this mess, but Ed just lowered his head further and didn't do anything.
'Bad guy...'
After I brought him in.
I looked at him with cold eyes and then turned my head. The priority was to resolve this crazy situation.
Clap.
The two hands lightly touched each other. As if by magic, everyone's attention was immediately focused and silence came.
So...
"What's this."
"It's not... you're the Demon King?"
I was startled and stood up from my seat.
What, why was the Demon King here?! There was even Lirinel behind him.
After seeing the Commander of the 2nd Corps and the 8th Corps, now the Demon King and the 11th Corps Commander. What was this?
"Commander Demon..."
"...?"
Unlike the Demon King's calm expression, Lirinel stamped her feet nervously with anxious eyes.
I was so nervous that I looked at her, and when we made eye contact, she was shocked and then started crying.
"I'm sorry..."
What, what?
"Oh, I heard Lirinel received something interesting. It was a unique-looking cookie."
The Demon King, with a fox-like grin, shook something.
What was in his hand was none other than a bag of cookies. It was obvious without having to ask where it came from.
But why is that interesting? I thought I gave something quite ordinary.
What are you trying to say? That you can't trust cookies given by humans?
"I..."
"Why don't you give me something like this?"
"I… yes?"
"It's too much. I can't believe you only gave this to Lirinel."
"Demon, you didn't even say a word to me, but you gave that to Lirinel? You're doing it too much."
"..."
Before I was relieved, I was at a loss for words.
So you came to me now because I didn't give you a gift? The Demon King?
Even the Commander of the 2nd Corps, who had been startled by the Demon King, began to wish for a souvenir. It seemed like he was trying not to show it, but Ed was also staring at me, and even the 8th Corps Commander had stopped blaming himself and was looking at me with an expectant look in his eyes.
'...Why don't you just keep blaming yourself?'
"Demon?"
"Ah, yes. A moment..."
I quickly looked away and started rummaging through the luggage I had brought with me when I came here.
What was in it? There has to be something good. If I didn't give them something, I don't think it will continue like this.
On the way here, I roughly checked what Remember had brought for me, but I couldn't take a closer look, so I was a little worried...
'Wow... unexpected...'
In the end, it was a useless worry. A silver pocket watch, white gloves, cookies. Somehow, if I put them all together, items that seemed to roughly resemble gifts caught my eye.
'Besides, it's new.'
It was perfect.
It was a bit odd since I don't use a pocket watch, and gloves are stuffy so I don't wear them unless it's a formal event, and that the cookies were shaped like flowers and hearts, unlike the ones he usually served.
What could Remember have known? I guess he put it there just in case.
When I found a flower seed in a corner of my bag that I didn't even know was there, I made a subtle expression, forgetting to control my facial expression.
"A pocket watch?"
"Yes."
"I don't know if I can accept something this good."
The Demon King smiled and puts the pocket watch in his pocket. My cold, narrowed eyes followed the figure.
The words I couldn't say lingered in my mouth.
As I looked at him...
"I was thinking about cookies. But I never thought you would give me something this good. Anyway, thank you."
"...!"
Did I tell you what was on my mind?
Looking at the Demon King turning around, I don't think that's the case. As I watched him leave, saying he had a lot of work to do, I made eye contact with Lirinel. She still had a tearful expression on her face and her mouth was forming silent words.
'Really sorry.'
It's not okay, but it's okay. It's obvious to me that it wasn't intentional, but I can't say anything.
When I roughly expressed the intention that it was okay, her face brightened, she bowed, and quickly disappeared after the Demon King.
I turned my gaze and caught Ed in my eyes. He was changing his gloves.
'It's the same shape and the same color, so why bother...?'
The black and strange patterns on the backs of his hands, always hidden by white gloves, were revealed and then disappeared.
I felt a little scared for no reason, so I slowly averted my gaze, and I heard Ed's satisfied voice.
"Thank you, Demon."
Well... if you liked it, that's fine. I nodded roughly and took out two bags of cookies from my bag. Of course, this belongs to the 2nd and 8th Corps Commanders.
There were only two bags of cookies left, so it was a shame.
If I wasn't careful, I would have been in big trouble. My liver was still too small[1] to listen to the Corps Commanders' complaints.
However, the expression on Dvelaina's face as hae looked back and forth between the cookies and the 8th Corps Commander was strange.
How can I say it, it felt like a mix of grumpiness and playfulness?
"Huh."
"...?"
"Hey, Hell."
There was no verbal answer, but Hell responded to the call and raised his head. Dvelania smiled sinisterly.
[1] Liver = guts = courage. He's essentially saying he's very cowardly and lacks courage to confront things head-on.