Ed borrowed a horse from the stable and headed to the first city.
It was natural for the monsters to run excitedly at the appearance of a formidable prey that was not moving in a group but was running alone across a desolate field.
Doo doo doo doo!
The earth shook. A cloud of dust rose and a swarm of monsters were seen coming from afar.
Nevertheless, Ed's expression did not waver.
'It's been a while since I used my unique ability.'
Rather than stopping, the horse continued to run without even slowing down, holding the reins tightly with one hand and putting the other hand to its mouth. He bit the end of his white gloves and pulled them off.
A strange black pattern that covered the back of his hand was partially revealed.
Ed was born with demonic energy of the wind. He was not created solely from a combination of pure wind and demonic energy, but there was a sacrifice in the form of a human corpse.
The body of a human general who was lying on the border between day and night on a strong windy day. The body was corroded and decomposed by demonic energy and then reassembled to form the body of a demon, and the swirling wind mixed in there became his unique ability.
Perhaps because of his unique ability, or because his body was half-covered in the human world, unlike a demon born by eating a corpse, his hair was pale like sunlight and his eyes were clear like the sky, so he received a good response from Deon Hardt relatively early on among the demons.
'Nice to meet you. I'm Ed, who will be serving you from today on. I heard that your physical condition worsened while preventing the hero from committing suicide. I will do my best to help you so that you do not feel any inconvenience.'
'The color...'
'Yes?'
'... No. Please take care of me.'
At that time, Ed remembered that, although it was only for a moment, the red eyes that had built a thick wall looked back and forth between his eyes and hair, and then relaxed a little. Later, he heard in passing that, unlike other demons, his appearance, including color, was similar to that of a human.
Then Ed realized.
Ah, Demon, he felt aversion to 'demon-like things'. Since he was human, there was nothing he could not understand. To be precise, it seems like he felt aversion to 'things that are different from humans', so it would be better to hide the characteristics of demons.
For him, the only demonic characteristic was the pattern that extended from his arms to the backs of his hands. His arms will be covered anyway when he wears a suit, so he just needed to cover his hands. So he always wore gloves.
'Master Deon...'
After all the effort, the distance that had been narrowed grew further again.
Why are you suddenly distancing yourself from me? Did I do something wrong?
His consciousness, which had gone astray, reached Deon Hardt again and hovered in place. Feeling his chest tighten, Ed stopped thinking and looked straight ahead.
"... A lot of those monsters flocked there too."
He stretched out his bare hand towards the horde of monsters blocking his path.
Since there was no one around except monsters, there was nothing to worry about. He rode the horse without hesitation and glared at the monsters.
The distance decreased at a rapid pace, and just before the collision, the pattern on the back of the hand moved.
Kwagwagwagwak!! The monster was torn apart. No, for a moment even the noise was torn away.
The black wind that swirled and tore everything in front of it slowly disappeared. The pattern on the back of Ed's hand had long since disappeared.
After a few seconds, noise began to fill the quiet space again. Ed rode his horse without hesitation into the open space, as there was only noise and the monsters had not yet arrived.
For the first time in a while, he felt his heart beating faster and filling his empty arms with air again.
'One hour until I can use it again.'
The remaining time must be used with caution.
Still, the monsters seem to have stopped in fear due to the sight they saw a moment ago, so he will be able to reach the first city before it becomes dangerous.
In the first place, he didn't become a candidate for Corps Commander just because of his unique ability, which had fatal limitations.
Ed rode the horse calmly, without any signs of anxiety.
***
A boring afternoon with nothing to do.
Thump thump!
The doorkeeper, who was dozing off against the door, was startled by the sudden sound and noise and straightened up. His eyes widen in disbelief as he realizes that the reason for the noise was because someone was knocking on the door outside. That's right...
'Surely there were no visits planned today?'
In other words, the current visit was extremely personal, which means that those who are out now are a minority, not a majority.
'A small number of people broke through that horde of monsters?'
The reason why the castle gate, which was always open, was closed except in special cases was because the number of monsters had increased significantly.
He briefly suspected that he might have mistaken the sound of a monster hitting the door, but it was clearly a knocking sound. A restrained collision sound made by striking with intention at regular intervals.
He hurriedly picked up the communication stone.
"Hey, someone is knocking outside right now. Can I open it?"
"..."
"Hey?"
"Uh... uh..."
Are you saying I can open it or not?
If it's opened without checking properly, he could cause a disaster by letting monsters into the castle walls. The frowning gatekeeper spoke strongly into the communicator again.
"Say it straight. Don't open it? Would it be necessary to have troops to block the monsters during opening?"
"... You can open it. No need for troops. Because there are no living monsters."
The reaction was somewhat strange, but this is what the guy who checked the outside directly from the castle wall said.
There was no reason not to believe it.
He grabbed the device that opened the castle gate. It's clear that there will be a small number of people, so there's no need to open it too much, just open it a little. If there were a large number of people, they would have made a schedule in advance and contacted them before coming, so there was no possibility of a large number.
When the device was moved, there was a heavy sound like "kugugung" and a slight gap appeared in the gate. As if they had been waiting, someone on a horse came through them.
'... One person?'
He waited, thinking the group would come in later, but no one came.
He asked if the gatekeeper, who was rather still, looked strange.
"What are you doing without closing the door?"
"A group...."
"There's no one."
Huh.
Unbelievable. Did he really come alone? The suspicion that raised its head for a moment soon disappeared as he sensed the evil magic coming from him.
'... He's fine coming alone.'
It's overwhelming, so he couldn't tell for sure, but it seems like most of the troops in the Demon King's Castle are close to the executive level.
Even so, they would usually bring a companion with them in case of an unexpected situation, but does this mean he is confident in his own abilities?
Anyway, he said there are no more demons coming in, so the castle gate must be closed again. He put my hand on the device again. And the gatekeeper, who thoughtlessly glanced outside the gap in the gate for a final check, froze.
'... Has a storm of blades passed by?'
Although it was an extremely limited sight seen through a narrow gap, there were shockingly numerous remains of monsters scattered there.
Many, many, many words passed through the gatekeeper's head. It was only after his presence disappeared that the gatekeeper was able to recall one memory.
'I thought I was strangely familiar with that magic...'
He remembered. It felt like the magical power of the adjutant who was by the 0th Corps Commander when he visited... Wait, what does that mean?!
***
The one remaining unique ability he had saved was used in front of the castle. If he just left the monsters alone and they came with him when he entered the gate, he will be in trouble.
The adjustments were not done properly for fear of damaging the castle walls or gates, so some ugly remnants were left behind, but the monsters were cleared out anyway.
'Where should I go anyway?'
After leaving the horse behind, Ed stopped and looked around.
All he could see were unsavory things like alcohol and gambling. The thought that he should have gone to the fourth city, even if it was a little further away, slowly dawned on him. The fourth city was a resort city.
'... No, as soon as I got there, I wouldn't have been there long and I would have had to leave again.'
He gave up his regrets and fell into thought again.
This city of entertainment may be just as good as a city of recreation to some, but not to him. Ed thought for a moment and then walked away with the intention of having a drink for the first time in a while.
There were plenty of bars so there was no need to go through any trouble to find them.
Ed went into an eye-catching bar, sat down, and ordered just one drink. The alcohol content was not that strong.
"Brother, is that going to be all?"
"I have to go back soon."
Since he came alone without any demons to take care of him, it would be difficult to drink to the point of intoxication.
The bartender, sensing that there was no room for further persuasion due to his firm attitude, clicked his tongue and turned around. Ed lifted the glass that came out shortly afterwards.
It was only when he took a sip that a long snake-like arm draped over his shoulder.
"What's going on with the demon who doesn't even drink alcohol? Is there something troubling you?"
A thin black tail fluttered in the corner of his eye.
A black tail with a pointed tip is a characteristic of incubi and succubi.
... Yes, this was the city of entertainment. He should have gone to the fourth city. Ed's expression hardened.
"... Eiga."
"Yeah, it's been a while."
The incubus rolled his eyes lazily and waved his hand.
... One day, Ed almost exploded with hostility toward Hien and warned him not to approach Deon again. At that time, Hien said something wrong, so Ed strangled him and Ben stopped him. At that time, Ben said this.
'Understand. That guy has bad memories about incubi and succubi.'
'Mistook a succubus for an incubus and confessed wrongly...'
The incubus called 'Eiga' in front of him right now was the person from that damn incident.
The person he truly loved when he thought he was a succubus.
His first love, to whom he couldn't contain the overflowing unfamiliar emotions and eventually confessed to her, but then it was revealed that he was an incubus and he mocked him.
Incubi and succubi can change their bodies according to the other person's taste, and if the other person does not have an external preference, their basic body condition does not change much, so there was no choice but to be confused about the gender of Eiga, who had a skinny body type. At the time, he had no external tastes and he thought the other succubus' basic body was a bit plain.
He abused it like that.
"... What kind of face are you clinging to me with?"
"Oh, you're being too tight. Still, can't I be a friend who listens to your concerns? There is no particular prejudice against incubi or succubi."
"Thanks to you, it's been a long time."
"I'm so sorry."
His tail touched Ed's neck as if he was apologizing but was not at all sorry. The sharp end poked his cheek playfully. Ed yanked it away and growled.
"It would be difficult to show one's tail like this in front of prejudiced demons. This is one of the reasons why you are looked down upon."
As if living as a parasite on others is not enough, the tail that exists on all incubi and succubi seems to be asking to be recognized and discriminate against them. The appearance that shows a sense of unity among the free-spirited demons is the same as asking people to recognize them and discriminate against them.
Regardless of whether Ed's spirit was vicious or not, Eiga grinned as he gently wagged his tail to pull it out of his hand.
"For something like that, the reaction is milder than expected. You let go of my tail so obediently."
"..."
"Would you like me to tell you something in return for not hitting my head on the table as soon as you saw me? I don't know what your problem is, but if it's a problem in an extremely private relationship rather than a public one, it's definitely a problem with your attitude."
"..."
"Because your attitude was always half-baked at crucial moments."
It's not like the demon's personality changed easily. Eiga clicked his tongue.