280. The only result was loss (6)
When I came to my senses, Deon was being scolded.
what? What kind of situation is this…? He is quickly surrounded by sturdy men and looks up with a slightly embarrassed face. Those who encountered the shiny red eyes shuddered and backed away.
“…Even if you look at it that way, I can’t just ignore it!”
“That’s right, you can’t get over it! First, put down the documents in your hands, Captain!”
Soon, as if it had never happened before, it rushed at me again.
The knight who lifted up Deon, who was sitting in front of the desk, frowned at the smell of cigarette smoke. Someone noticed a hole in the thigh of his pants and pointed at him.
“Captain, did you burn yourself again?!”
“You said you took medicine… I still smell bad. How are you going to take responsibility for this?!”
“Why should I take responsibility for that… Why don’t you put it down to that?”
“ah.”
The knight carrying him trudges to the bed. He sat Deon down on the bed as if putting down a doll and then gave him a stern look.
If only one person had done that, I wouldn’t have cared at all… Deon rolled his eyes and glanced at the guys surrounding him, then sighed and lowered his eyes. A nagging voice fell over my head as if I had been waiting for it.
“Why are you using your body like that when you say you’re not fully recovered yet?”
“….”
“As for the paperwork… I can give in and make you understand. But not the cigarettes.”
Cleter takes the lead and nags while those around him nod.
I don’t really like the current situation, but I can’t really refute it, and I know that I’m worried, so I can’t scold them to shut up. Therefore, Deon just waited for the nagging to end with a sullen expression on his face.
‘Because I won’t nag you twice about the same thing. ‘If only I could hold on to this moment…’
But did life turn out as expected?
“He said he didn’t plan on living long anyway.”
“what?!”
Dan, who had been quietly listening, suddenly joined in and added a word. Immediately, the crazy dogs’ eyes turned harsh.
That damn bastard? Deon, who suddenly raised his head and glared at Dan, made eye contact with the mad dogs and quietly averted his gaze.
“Captain! Is that true?!”
“You really said that?!”
“Great ego!!”
“…Noisy.”
A clear attitude of listening with one ear and letting it out with the other.
It shouldn’t be like this. Cleter’s face twisted.
If things go on like this, their leader will act as he pleases without even thinking about his own body, just like he has done so far. I’ve been lucky so far, but there’s no guarantee that will continue, so I can’t wait and see.
“Leader.”
“….”
“I think we need to look at the past for a moment.”
The members of the Lofty Knights have already decided to commit suicide if something like that happens again. In order to prevent such a tragedy from actually happening, we must instill awareness in Deonhardt.
So Cleter gave up coldly.
“Why did you come running when the heroes from the Mountain Country were targeting us?”
“As a superior, it is natural to protect your subordinates….”
“No. It is normal to live on your own first and do it when you can afford it. At that time, the commander clearly had an enemy on his back. He was attacked. And yet!”
Perhaps because the situation at that time is vividly recalled in his mind, his voice rises rapidly as if he is overflowing with emotion. Clator, who was shocked, quickly shut his mouth.
…Can not be done. It’s in front of the ‘Captain’. No matter what, you have to keep the line.
‘know. I know. ‘I know, so stop stabbing me in the side.’
He irritatedly pushed away the hand poking his side and closed his eyes as if to suppress his emotions. And how long had passed? After a short silence, he slowly raised his eyelids and continued speaking.
A calm voice came out as if asking when I had gotten excited.
“…But the captain didn’t take care of himself and ran towards us.”
Having already been attacked, I ran this way with the enemy behind me, who might attack a few more times. How my heart was pounding at that time.
I took out the sword on my waist. Shocked, I slashed my arm as if to show off the gaze that was looking at me.
“…!”
Deon jumped up from his seat.
At first, it seemed like a solid red line appeared, but half a beat later the wound widened and blood began to ooze out. Blood-red eyes shook uneasily as they saw the long stab wound with red blood flowing out.
“…Are you crazy?”
A bloody voice came out late.
“If we don’t do this, I don’t think the captain will be alert. In the future, if the captain gets hurt, we’ll have to get hurt too. It would be better to have injuries of the same magnitude in the same area if possible.”
“You…”
“Now that I think about it, I wonder where the captain was injured at that time…”
“…!”
“Oh yeah.”
My stomach was pierced.
An eerie murmur filled the room. Among the frozen people, Cleter raises his sword upside down and aims it at his stomach. Only then did a commotion arise, as if waking up from hypnosis.
“Hey hey! Stop it!”
“No! Are you crazy?!”
“Then you die! You die!”
“I have to do that when I’m in the way of the captain. What if I do it already?”
Ignoring his clinging comrades, Cleter pulls his sword towards his stomach. Others, scared, barely managed to stop by grabbing the handle from the other side. Suddenly, a life-threatening tug-of-war broke out between those who wanted to take the sword and those who did not want to take it.
The laughable comedy ended only when Deon, who was frozen even then, managed to open his mouth.
“…stop.”
“….”
“I know what you want to say, so… leave it at that.”
tired. I think I know what they were feeling at that time. … But I’m a hero, right? Unlike them, it heals quickly…
…no, let’s stop. Even if you refute it here, it will only backfire. With mixed feelings, Deon raised his hand and wiped his face as if washing his face. And then stop.
‘…for a moment.’
Among the shouts of those who were trying to stop Cleter a little while ago… I think there was a shout of ‘You have to do that when you’re in the way of the captain’…?
Sure enough, as if it wasn’t over yet, Cletor’s voice continued before I could come to my senses.
“Captain, we have decided that if something like that happens again in the future, we will commit suicide without hesitation.”
“…!”
“It means that I would rather die than have the captain get seriously hurt by grabbing my ankle like I did then.”
Shock was evident in his wide-open red eyes.
His conscience suddenly ached as he looked like a young Deon Hardt during the Eight Years’ War, but Cletter didn’t stop. Because these next words are the most important. If you stop here, all your previous words and actions will be useless.
“Of course, if the captain takes care of himself more than us, there’s no need to do that, but…” “
…Okay.”
A slightly wet voice interrupted the conversation.
“I understand.”
In contrast to the trembling voice that came out through his teeth, his dry eyes glared harshly at Cleter. Cleter, who clearly read the ‘resentment’ there, smiled bitterly.
“So stop talking.”
“…Yeah, whatever.”
“…Fuck.”
Deon ended up burying his face in his hands. While no one could easily open their mouths, a voice that sounded like someone was chewing on food rang out.
“Fucking bastard.”
“Don’t you know best that we are a bunch of bastards? It’s refreshing.”
“…Shut up and treat your arm first.”
At times like this, even if you want to deny it, you realize it. When they threaten to take my life hostage, I can’t move… I have taken them into my heart so deeply.
Actually, the time I met them was during the eight-year war, when there was no one to rely on. A time when I was mentally exhausted because I thought I had been abandoned by my family.
At first, he said that as a commander, he would be held responsible if he lost his subordinates, so he said he would protect them, but what child would push away those guys who steadily approach him and try to take advantage of him personally?
[Have you had a meal? If you want to survive, you have to eat something first.]
[Are you sleeping well? If you keep staying up all night during the growth period, you won’t grow taller.]
[What’s with the captain’s clothes? Come here. I will refine it.]
[Aaaah, boss! underwear! You have to wear underwear!]
I have no appetite. You guys keep coming to me, saying I’m having nightmares. What’s wrong with my clothes? If they get wet with blood, I have to throw them away anyway, so I can’t waste supplies every time. When they get wet and stick to each other, they feel uncomfortable…
Even though young Deon Hart was tickling, he ended up liking them.
‘…are you okay.’
Now it’s too late to push it away, but that’s okay.
Because they are people who are looking for a way to live together rather than sacrificing themselves to save me like my brother or the monsters. So, as Cleter said, as long as I’m being selfish, I’ll be fine.
The blood between my fingers trembles as if it will swallow me up at any moment. Deon closed his eyes tightly.
***
Hien was watching all this commotion outside.
‘Be sure to close the door when talking….’
If the door is not closed, soundproofing magic is useless.
It seems that those crazy… no, the human knights forgot to close the door tightly… I ended up witnessing a situation that was heavier than I expected.
‘In the end, I stopped by because I heard that the plant used its seeds…’
I heard that Deon was actually psychologically shocked by the plant’s sacrifice. So I tried to apologize.
Looking at this situation, it seems like today is not the right day. Hien smiled bitterly.
‘…Maybe it would have worked out better.’
Actually, I didn’t have the confidence to apologize face to face.
I couldn’t apologize empty-handed, so I thought about it for a while. However, it was clear that injecting magic power into human plants like before would have the opposite effect, so he ended up leaving without anything in his hand and bowed his head in front of the door.
I once again remembered the plant that proudly received the seeds and hid them under its roots.
‘Still… I guess I died with my wish achieved.’
At that time… I remember the ending of the bees trying to prevent the invasion of wasps when the seeds were purified in front of the bee hive.
Even though they lost their lives, they won.
‘…Let’s go back.’
When Deon looks at me, all he can think of is that plant and he must be having a hard time. I turned around.
And when Hien noticed the wall blocking his path, he raised his head in surprise. I reflexively swallowed a sigh of relief at the familiar yet difficult face and took a step back.
“Wow… Demon King.”
“Shh.”
Even the devil and ben ed.
How long have you been here? I didn’t notice it at all until I turned around and faced it directly. Hien urgently covered his mouth with both hands and quickly nodded and stepped aside.
The Demon King naturally passed him and clapped his hands as he entered the room.
Clap clap clap.
***
“You have good subordinates.”
“…Ma…King?”
“okay.”
Deon raised his head at the sudden sound of applause. He casually responds to the unfamiliar call and approaches Deon, placing the back of his hand on Deon’s forehead. As if detecting a slight fever that had not gone down, Yeok-an looked down at his bewildered red eyes.
The Demon King took his hand away for a moment and shifted his gaze to the documents on the desk.
“I received a report that you were working while unwell… I guess it’s true.”
…I couldn’t stop it on my own, so I brought in a higher person.
Dan brings in a mad dog, and they bring in a demon lord… It’s so disgusting. Deon looked at Ben and Ed beyond him.
As if breaking eye contact for a moment, the Demon King crosses the middle of them and walks towards where the desk is. Naturally, Deon’s gaze also shifted in that direction.
Long outstretched fingers picked up a document.
“Are you already thinking about attacking?”
“…’Already’. Shouldn’t we be responsible?”
After telling me to take responsibility for the defeat in the Mountain Country.
The Demon King’s eyes narrowed.
“I don’t remember saying ‘as quickly as possible.’”
“….”
“Anyway, let’s put this aside.”
“what…?!”
He started putting away the papers. Deon suddenly stands up and approaches, asking what he is doing.
The Demon King, who was looking down at Deon’s hand holding his wrist, looked up. His mouth opened as if he was about to say something, then paused for a moment, then turned his head and spat out another word.
“…Everyone get out.”
