12. Heroes, meetings, and…(3)
The confusion was short-lived. The corps commanders quickly consoled themselves and stood up all at once.
Soon the door opened and the Demon King and the 0 Corps Commander Demon entered.
Idelia took a quick look at Belitan’s expression.
As expected, the expression is rotten. I honestly complained. So who dared to mess with the demon? He is the most respected person in the Demon Castle, next to the Demon King.
The Demon King, sitting leisurely in the luxurious chair at the head of the table with his legs crossed, lightly waved his hand.
“Everyone sit down.”
Once again, random movements occurred.
The Demon King looked around at all those seated, then looked at Deon, who was sitting closest, and raised the corners of his mouth faintly.
“As you may know, there was an intruder. “The Commander of Corps 0 here did a great job catching it.”
Everyone’s eyes turned to Deon.
It was understandable that the gaze of everyone here was burdensome, but he just kept his eyes down and played with the cube.
…Cube?
Eyes began to exchange busily between the corps commanders.
‘Hey, that…’
‘Yes, it looks like he’s very interested in this matter.’
‘Instead, the results will be more certain…’
‘It can be dangerous, so it’s better to be careful.’
When there were meetings during the war, he always turned the cube around and listened to the opinions of everyone involved.
If they liked the idea, the cube would turn smoothly to fit, but if they didn’t like it, it would turn so roughly that a clicking sound would fill the barracks.
Whether it was running rough or smooth, the best conclusion always came with the completion of the cube. The problem is that if something goes wrong, it always explodes.
The Demon King continued speaking while a subtle tension hovered in the air.
“The investigation revealed that it was not a simple intruder. Of course, it can’t be simple since the Demon King Castle has even entered my resistance, but this case is particularly special.”
Eyes filled with slight hostility scan the people sitting in their seats.
Even though his eyes were looking at the corps commanders, he was not looking at them. The Demon King spoke with a faint hint of life as if he was looking at someone beyond them.
“Because it was the dregs of a hero.”
“…Are you saying you’re a hero?”
“Yeah, it wasn’t that many. The Empire turned on the lights and sent one of the people it was collecting here as a sacrifice.”
thud!
A heavy sound was heard. The corps commanders did not bother to look up to find the cause of the noise.
Because it was obvious who did it without even looking.
The Demon King leans forward, placing his clenched fist on the handle.
A heavy pressure poured down on the entire conference room.
“What is the purpose?”
“….”
“The empire’s movements are unusual. We even lost contact with the commander of the 9th Corps, who was recently on the front line. “There must be some problem.”
The devil is strong.
Because he was strong enough to not need to use his brain, his choices were always simple and weighty.
It was like that this time too.
“Commander of the 1st Corps.”
“yes.”
“You go.”
He was thinking of starting an all-out war.
Jaykar is the devil’s agent. There was no idiot present here who would not know what it meant for him to step forward in person.
After pausing for a moment, Jaykar lowers his head and looks at the Demon King with his eyes slightly raised.
For a moment, he calmly answered, lowering his gaze again without any question.
“yes.”
A slight war cloud began to hover throughout the conference room.
Although war was not about to break out right away, the tension seemed as if it would break out at any moment, and the Demon King clapped his hands as if to change the mood.
The silence was broken and a lighter voice followed.
“Okay, I think this is roughly the end of the story, and there’s something I need to address before discussing the next issue.”
“…?”
“What kind of reward should we give to the commander of Corps 0, who single-handedly took down the dregs of the warrior?”
The hand that was constantly turning the cube stopped.
The red eyes that had not been on the desk for even a single moment during the entire meeting slowly rose to face him.
The Demon King smiled while looking at me with his red eyes.
“It wouldn’t be a bad idea for the parties involved to decide.”
***
I hate corps commander meetings. I hate it so much. Needless to say the reason.
Because I’m scared!
The corps commander-only cafeteria is tolerable as there are some people who do not eat, but the conference hall is a place where most people can participate. So how scary can it be?
‘I don’t want to go…’
Every time I’m late for a meeting, I keep saying I don’t want to go and end up being late. If it weren’t for the demon king who came to pick me up, I would have been late again this time.
Oh, is it already too late?
I was about to rub my sweaty hands on the hem of my clothes, but stopped. What’s this?
‘Cube?’
Cube. Of course, I carry the Cube with me when I have meetings, but only when the meeting is centered around me.
Anyway, the meeting is going well even if I leave it out. If I make eye contact and someone asks for my opinion, it’s embarrassing, so I avoid eye contact and play with cubes to kill time… This means that the meeting I’m going to attend right now is a meeting centered around the devil
!
Why didn’t the devil point this out?
I want to go back now and put it back where it belongs, but it’s too late for that.
“The Demon King and Commander 0 Corps eat it.”
The door to the conference room opened with a rather loud and solemn voice.
I hesitantly entered the conference hall, feeling like a cow being dragged to the slaughterhouse.
And soon after the meeting started, my thoughts on Cube changed 180 degrees.
‘I’m glad I brought it.’
It would have been embarrassing if I hadn’t brought it.
The atmosphere is scary and no one is looking at me, so it’s the perfect environment for spinning the cube.
As I was repeating the process of mixing new cubes, half-matching them, and shuffling them again, the Demon King suddenly made an unexpected noise.
“Okay, I think this is roughly the end of the story, and there’s something I need to address before discussing the next issue.”
Until then, I thought it had nothing to do with me.
“What kind of reward should we give to the commander of Corps 0, who single-handedly took down the dregs of the warrior?”
I raised my head in surprise.
The Demon King’s gaze was too obviously directed in this direction to be dismissed as a mishearing.
He even added as if nailing it.
“It wouldn’t be a bad idea for the parties involved to decide.”
A silence with a different meaning than before fell.
As I did not open my mouth easily, the corps commanders who kept their mouths shut came out and watched the devil. The Demon King looked at me with his chin up as if telling me to speak quickly.
In silence, I rolled my eyes back and forth.
‘So… tell me what you want, right?’
If it’s what you want, it’s not much. Even from the Demon King’s point of view, there are only things that can be easily accepted….
“Resignation…”
“No.”
“Then alcohol…”
“Are you serious?”
“….”
“….”
…I thought there wasn’t one.
As he cuts off things resolutely, his facial expression remains the same.
Still with a gentle smile on his face, the Demon King waits for his next words.
I felt burdened by the eyes that followed me without leaving for a moment, so I tried to quickly say something and get it over with… but
other than that, I don’t really want anything…?
“…I don’t have it right now, so can we postpone it until later?”
“What are you asking? “Is it scary already?”
He laughed, removed the hand that was resting on his chin, and straightened his upper body.
After scanning the corps commanders, the eyes quickly roll to capture Belitan.
The corps commanders, who instinctively sensed that he was going to move on to the next item, stiffened their bodies, and as the air became taut again, I could not bring myself to look up or lower my gaze, so I just turned the cube under the desk, relying on my senses.
Whatever the agenda is, it has nothing to do with me.
“I heard you had something to say about the 6th Corps Commander’s monster?”
“Yes I would like to request assistance.”
“Hmm…”
The Demon King looked through the report and took out a document. The expression on his face, which was calm at first, becomes more and more distorted as he reads the document.
Finally, after reading the last line, he let out a soft groan.
“The matter is definitely serious. “Are you and the commander of the 12th Corps not enough?”
“The 12th Legion currently does not have the strength to go hunting for monsters.”
For a moment, the Demon King’s actions stopped. The eyes that were looking at the documents rose vertically and looked at Belitan.
I nodded my head inwardly as I looked at the station, which was motionless, or, better, frozen.
You must have been surprised. It’s natural to be surprised. Because I was surprised too.
What does that word mean? Doesn’t this mean that the army has suffered so much damage that it can no longer hunt monsters? The cause is definitely a monster.
“Then the position of commander of the 12th Corps is vacant…”
“I heard he is recuperating due to an injury.”
“Just like monsters?”
“Be careful what you say. “If even small things come together, they can become a threatening enemy.”
Small voices are being exchanged among the corps commanders.
There is nothing that cannot be understood. The 12th Legion suffered only from monsters and such.
It is ‘at best’ a monster. In the Empire, they are so-called ‘monsters’, which are failures.
The power of the Demon King gives birth to numerous demons even without the Demon King’s intention. This is why the Demon King is a threat, and it is the decisive reason why the Empire—and by extension, all humans—are working hard to get rid of him.
However, creating life is not that easy.
Among the demons born, only 40% were truly rational beings who could be called ‘demons’. The remaining 60% are small creatures that are only faithful to their own desires and it is shameful to even call them demons.
Since it was a complete failure that tried to eat the demons rather than control them, the demon king called them ‘monsters’ and cleaned them regularly for the safety of the demons.
‘It just comes to mind. ‘Have I stayed here too long?’
How long has it been since I haven’t seen sunlight?
Feeling a surge of sadness, I glared at the desk.
In the meantime, the Demon King’s voice, which had paused for a moment, continued again. I thought he would be a little agitated, but perhaps because he was the devil, his voice was calmer and calmer than usual.
“Documents have limitations. “Explain it yourself.”
“At some point, the number of monsters increased significantly. “By the time I realized it too late and tried to deal with it, half of the small villages had already been trampled.”
“‘Half’… Then what about the remaining half?”
“We evacuated to a large city with walls.”
I thought Belitan was ignorant, but he has surprisingly good judgment…?
I’m sorry. I guess I ignored you too much. I silently listened to his explanation, apologizing in my mind that would never reach me.
“The problem is that there are so many monsters that they even try to climb over the walls. “Every day feels like a war.”
“…From now on, we will have to place corps commanders in large cities as well.”
“Why have the numbers suddenly increased so much?…”
The Demon King’s words following his self-talk were closer to lamentation.
The Demon King clasped his hands together, placed his chin on top of them, and spoke indifferently.
“It’s because the hero died. “Because the balance is broken.”
While saying that, the Demon King looked at me once.
No, why are you looking at me? It’s not my fault? You were the one who drove the hero to death in the first place, right?
Nevertheless, I was not confident to look directly into his eyes, so I secretly avoided my gaze, and the devil said as if he was shuffling through an unknown document when I looked away.
“There are four big cities… Moreover, if the 12th Legion is incapable of combat, it will definitely be difficult to defend.”
“Yes, I am requesting assistance.”
“where… “The remaining manpower…”
An ominous feeling runs down my spine. I quickly lowered my gaze to hide my trembling pupils.
I realized it too late, but the cube was spinning like crazy under the desk.
It was my first time knowing that my hands could move so magically.
Click, click, click.
Why are you so anxious? Isn’t that natural?
When you think of surplus manpower, who comes to mind? It’s me. A surplus of surplus that doesn’t even do the paperwork that all corps commanders are responsible for! All they do is burn down the garden and knock over the food trays…
“Damon, you’d better go.”
…snap.
My hand stopped. My breathing also stopped.
‘No way! ‘You need to take a break!’
At first glance, I thought I saw someone beckoning from across the river.
As I hurriedly supplied oxygen to my lungs, my head began to spin again. And this time, I became resentful of my racing head.
Before I knew it, I was holding the completed cube tightly with both hands and screaming inwardly.
I knew it would be like this!
