Demon Arut. It wasn't know who he was, what he looked like, or what he did, but his name was widely known throughout the demon world.
If even demons in distant areas who didn't know his face were like this, what would it be like in the Demon King's Castle?
There was no way that the movements of a person who was treated as a being second only to the Demon King would not be known. Since he rarely moved, even if his actions were trivial, they spread throughout the Demon Castle in an instant, and the long-awaited news of his return naturally reached the ears of the 2nd Corps Commander Dvelania.
"Hmm, Demon has returned?"
Even so, she was upset about not being able to see each other for a long time, but it turned out okay. She happened to go to the second city and buy some clothes.
As soon as she thought about it, she took action immediately.
Dvelania quickly began to pack up the luggage that had been stored in one place without even unpacking it, as if possessed. I'd like to greet him and also give him all the clothes that I couldn't give him because the timing was different.
She grabbed the 'gifts for Demon' and moved without delay.
...
It wasn't that difficult to sneak into Demon's room. Because Demon's lieutenant took advantage of the altercation with the gardener and she snuck in through the open door.
She thought she came in secretly, but it seems like Demon noticed it from the beginning.
While lying down on the bed, he looked straight at the ceiling where she was hiding, then raised both hands and swept down his face as if she was not worth dealing with.
Not only was he lying down defenseless, he was even covering his eyes.
As the commander of the 2nd Corps, who was mainly responsible for stealth and assassination-related work, this honestly hurt her pride. So, without realizing it, she ended up moving a little too much.
Puuuk!
The sword sunk into the bedding without much of a sound. To be exact, right next to Demon's neck.
Nevertheless, without any sign of surprise, Demon slowly lowered the hand that was covering his face. Red eyes glanced at the sword and then looked straight at her. For a moment, she was startled by his eyes that seemed to be asking her what she was doing, but then she slowly smiled and opened her mouth.
"Hello, Demon."
***
"I really missed you. I had a lot of gifts to give you, but the person who was supposed to receive them was not there..."
"..."
"Anyway, was my sword really not worth reacting to? I thought I trained hard."
"..."
"Huh? Demon? What?"
"Sa..."
"Sa?"
Save me...
I barely swallowed the words that were about to come out of my mouth.
I was so shocked that I froze, so fortunately I didn't scream out loud, but as a side effect, my heart felt like it froze for a moment. I almost died of a heart attack.
Dvelania's eyes shone as if she was curious about the words I barely swallowed. There was an interest that could not be hidden in the two drowsy downcast eyes.
"Sa, what?"
"..."
I was impressed by the tenacity of biting on something that was nothing special for a moment, but before I could answer, Dvelania clapped her hands as if she understood.
"Ah! Because there was no killing intent in it?"
"...!?"
No, I haven't said anything yet.
"But how could I dare to show my killing intent. The moment I show signs of that, he will turn and try to kill me."
"..."
"It's not that I don't think life is a waste or anything, but the extreme Demon is cool, but I like the moderate Demon better. I like gentle men."
I don't know what she's talking about.[1]
"Oh, more than that, I've been going around a lot and buying clothes that would look good on Demon."
The way she was looking at me now was very scary. I slowly stood up, looking away from the uncomfortably sparkling eyes.
I wanted to run away if I could, but whether it was by accident or design, Dvelania was blocking my quick escape route, so I gave up on pointless resistance and obediently took the box she held out .
I accepted it.
Well, if it's just this one thing, it's fine. Usually, she brought a mountain of clothes and piled them in the corner of the room.
"Of course, this isn't everything. I just gave it to you first because it was the one I liked the most, but I piled the rest over there. Try this first, and be sure to wear the rest at least once."
"..."
Did you get that?
That's right, there's no way she could give me just one. I was too naive. I sighed and opened the box. A blue, flowy dress appeared.
"This is..."
"I heard that it was inspired by the clothing of the southern part of the human world. I don't like humans, but their culture has a lot of interesting things."
"But..."
"Oh, by the way, the top and bottom are matched, so wear them with the pants below."
"So, I understood that…"
It's definitely a design I've seen before, whether or not it's a lie that it was inspired by southern clothing. It was a little different, but I think it was probably called a durumagi[2]? But wasn't the most important thing overlooked?
"Isn't there anything to wear underneath?"
Yes, clothes to underneath! Usually, if they even match the pants, don't they always try to bring clothes to wear underneath? As far as I knew, this is an outer garment. Perhaps because it has been improved, there was no knot to hide the gaping front.
Of course, this could mean that you should wear the clothes underneath yourself. But, as someone who experienced Dvelania's infinite clothing hell, I kew better.
Due to Dvelania's personality, if she had given me outer clothes, she would have also given me clothes to wear underneath.
Could it be that she forgot...?
"Oh, that was originally the case. That's how you wear it."
"...Originally?"
"In the human world, you might have worn it a little differently, but in the demon world, you wear it like this."
Crazy.
"Now, would you like to try it on?"
"Ah..."
Damn. This is why I was avoiding the 2nd Corps Commander. I looked at the clothes in my hand, sweating profusely. I don't want to wear them. No, I should never wear them, even if it puts aside exposure and my taste.
If it's the Dvelania I've experienced, I'm sure I'll be fine if I wear it at least once. She'll try to have me wear everything, even things she didn't plan on me wearing, just because she says it suits me. It's obvious that the end result will be an appointment to go out to buy clothes. But the person you're dealing with is the Commander of the 2nd Corps. It was a time when I was hesitating, unable to firmly refuse.
Knock.
"This is Demon Ed. The 8th Corps commander and his adjutant request a meeting."
"Oh."
As expected, Ed! I looked back at Dvelania with a smile on my face. I couldn't tell her to get out of the way out loud, but as she just heard, I was busy, so I silently asked her to leave quickly. I'm looking at him...
"Tsk."
"...!?"
Did you just... click your tongue...?
As soon as my surprised gaze reached her, Dvelania grinned and stood up. Her eyes were fiercely focused on the door.
If it weren't for the scary look in her eyes, I would have thought what I had just heard was a mistake. Her voice sounded just as usual.
"It's a shame, but I guess you'll have to postpone trying it on until later."
"Okay..."
"If you don't like the design, please tell me. Later, let's go to the second city together to buy clothes that you like, Demon."
"...Yes."
I should never say anything. Whether I like it or not, let's never say anything.
Meanwhile, Dvelania approached the door and grabbed the handle. She yanked it open. Ed, who had raised his eyes indifferently as he prepared to show politeness, as if he had expected me to tell him to come in or come out in person, soon shrunk his pupils to a small size.
"Commander Dvelania?"
"Hello?"
"I didn't know you were there. I'm sorry if I interrupted you."
"No, it wasn't important. Our 8th Corps Commander's business is more important than mine. Isn't that right?"
"..."
It seems like the Commander of the 8th Corps was answering something, but the sound is so low that I can't hear it.
Moreover, my eyes were busy looking beyond them rather than at them. Ed didn't bury Hien in the garden, right...?
"Anyway, I'll go."
Ah, it looks like she was finally leaving.
After confirming that Hien wasn't behind them, I inadvertently turned my gaze and stopped looking. As Dvelania passed the 8th Corps Commander with a weapon draped behind his back, he loosened the strap holding the weapon. Because of that, the two longswords slid as if lying down and settled horizontally behind his back. Without knowing this, the 8th Corps commander stepped inside the door.
And.
"Ah."
The width of the door was too small . A spear that was longer than the width got caught in the entrance.
As if he had been caught by the back of his neck, the 8th Corps Commander was frozen with his legs outstretched before he could even step inside.
His adjutant, who had witnessed the scene from the side, sighed as if he had gone crazy.
"I..."
"Oh my gosh."
The 8th Corps commander crouched down.
With his face buried in his hands, he muttered in a voice that sounded like he was digging a tunnel.
"Why do I live... I am such an idiot. Trash that has no use at all..."
"No, Hell! That's a mistake everyone makes! Besides, Hell carries a lot of weapons…"
"I'm not worth breathing when I carry a lot of weapons that I can't handle..."
"That's absolutely not what I meant! Oh my..."
"I'm the one who hurts my adjutant's head..."
"Oh no! It's not because of Hell that I'm having a headache. It's a chronic headache! Hell, you did nothing wrong!"
Why were those bastards making such a fuss here?
I stared blankly at the scene unfolding in front of me with dead eyes. And then I thought to myself, 'What did Ed and Hien talk about?'
...I guess I've adapted to this crazy place again.
***
Ed and Hien didn't have a conversation as special as Deon had expected. The bloodshed he was worried about didn't happen.
Ed's sharp words just left Hien one-sided.
"...So, don't approach Demon ever again."
It was an arrogant voice befitting the top candidate for Corps Commander.
Hien, who had been listening in silence due to his low status, suddenly raised his head.
When his eyes met his, Ed's face distorted and he takes a step back. Although at first glance, his expression and actions seemed to be disgusted, Hien could tell.
That demon did not hate him. He just pathologically avoided him.
'...Now that I think about it.'
Hien encountered Ed countless times and received countless amounts of hostility, but he didn't think he'd ever felt anything more than disgust.
'Why?'
"What are you looking at? Get rid of your eyes."
As expected, he didn't feel any hatred.
Hien had received a lot of hate for being an incubus who lived as a parasite on others all his life. There was no way he couldn't distinguish the disgust directed at him and not at anything else. So he mustered up the courage to open his mouth.
"Ed doesn't hate me, does he?"
"...!"
"I'm sure. Ed, you don't hate incubi and succubi. But why... Ack!"
He instinctively tried to grab the hand that was strangling him, but when he realized the situation, he relaxed his body.
He made a faint sound of strangulation and looked at the face of the person who had strangled him.
Even in this situation, his expression showed no sign of hatred.
Instead, what was revealed was anger and... shame from not being able to avoid something that one wanted to avoid?
'Tsk.'
The strangling force became stronger.
Although he may not have a moderate temperament, Hien said this because he thought he was someone who respected Demon's opinion above all else, but was he mistaken?
At that moment, there was a hand grabbing Ed's arm.
[1] There was originally a thing here about calling the 7th Corps Commander, Silua, a pervert. I couldn't figure out what this meant in context so I deleted it. There was probably something lost in translation, since I think the original text I have was translated with Google Translate.
[2] Traditional Korean hanbok overcoat. Not the hanbok itself, just the coat. Worn by both men and women.