Dvelania appeared like a storm and caused tremendous stress, but ran away like the wind.
It wasn't a big deal, but there was something I needed to point out about Lirinel and the Demon Cult matter, so I began to speak carefully, and as if she sensed what I wanted to say, she just rolled her eyes here and there and muttered an excuse.
'It's fun to make fun of naive people, so...'
'...'
'I'm sorry!'
And she was so agile when she threw herself out the window.
When I quickly put my hand on the window frame and looked down, she was already running far away. And when I looked for her later, she said she was away on a mission…
'Well... okay, she won't be bringing any clothes for me for a while.'
I decided to think positively. After that, meaningless time passed.
As always, there was nothing special for me to do in the Demon King's Castle. Occasionally, I would receive a mission out of the blue and be called out, armed with a weapon, but that was also very rare.
So you could say this was my daily life. There was no need to be anxious now.
"... Shit."
I'm anxious!
Before I knew it, I threw the puzzle cube to one side and stood up.
The soft bed tempted me to lie down more, but it didn't work for me because I was uncomfortable.
For some reason, I don't think I should stay still. I feel like I need to do something right away...
I called out to Ed, who was standing in one corner of the room and rolling his eyes nervously.
"Ed."
"Yes, Demon."
"What do I have to do today?"
"There is a Corps Commander meeting in the evening."
"Anything else?"
"Nothing."
I don't know what to do, so what can I do?
"Fuck."
Anxiety turned into annoyance, and my emotions were agitated.
Excessive emotions cloud reason and dull the mind. My shitty life sucks. What on earth am I doing? I was muttering all kinds of harsh words, and it was after I muttered, 'I wish everyone would leave' that I became aware of his presence.
Ed was pale and looking at me with trembling eyes.
"Ah..."
"..."
That's right, watch your mouth. I guess I'm also getting used to the demon realm. When I see him being so nervous and even swearing.
'...I should apologize, right?'
I don't want to be hated for no reason by demons. I quickly opened my mouth to prolong my life.
"Ed."
"Yes... Demon. Sorry."
"Why did you apologize... No..."
I made a mistake! I shouldn't have asked!
I've learned from my experience so far that asking the reason for an unexpected apology only made the situation worse... I guess I can't help but say things reflexively. Sure enough, Ed's face became even grayer, his lips trembled, and he barely managed to come up with an answer.
"Because I couldn't leave... I made Demon feel uncomfortable. Sorry."[1]
"Ah."
Okay. So, why are you here?
"An apology is okay. Rather, why are you here?"
"I'm sorry..."
"No, I'm not arguing... I'm just asking because I'm really curious about the reason."
I waved my hand vigorously and tried to reassure Ed.
He was usually in his room. Why was he here? Was his room gone? Did the Demon King want him to leave the room?
"The Demon King... told me to stay by Demon's side."
Ah.
As he spoke, he checks my eyes to see if I'm upset. Of course, I'm a little annoyed, but I had no intention of getting angry at the poor adjutant. Before that, I wasn't brave enough to get angry at the demons.
Instead of saying anything to him, I kept my mouth shut and brought back the cube I had thrown away. As I was trying to empty my thoughts by randomly mixing things up to suppress the anxious feelings that were still throbbing, Ed spoke carefully.
"If you don't mind... how about taking a look around the outer castle? It might help you feel better."
"Outer castle...?"
Yes, I was too introspective.
It's been a while since I've been to the Demon King's Castle and I've gotten used to it, so it wouldn't be a bad idea to take a look around at least once.
Oh, of course, I won't go alone, on the condition that Ed followed me as an escort. I haven't grown up enough to walk around the outer castle alone yet. It'll probably be like that for the rest of my life.
But I should have thought twice before giving my answer.
"Alright..."
It was almost at the same time that I gave an affirmative answer that I remembered that there were crazy fanatics outside the castle.
"Wait..."
How great it would be if we could take back words. I was experiencing first-hand the dangers of such careless words and actions.
Even if I regretted it, nothing would change. Because Ed's face had already brightened with anger. How could I change my words to that face? I suppressed my trembling body. I don't know, I'm not confident I can handle it. I should just go. Shit.
It can't be helped. Now that things are like this, I have no choice but to stick with Ed no matter what happens.
"Would you like to change your clothes?"
"Um..."
I didn't answer hastily this time.
First, I looked at my clothes. It's not particularly bad... but I wish it had less of a presence. As far as possible, out of sight of fanatics.
'And it's night in the Demon World.'
Okay, let's just wear completely black clothes. I mainly walk around in the shade where the moonlight doesn't reach.
After making up my mind, I opened the closet and took out black clothes, giving a delayed answer.
"I'm going to change. Please go out."
"..."
Why was there no answer?
When I glanced back, I saw Ed looking at me with trembling eyes. No, when I looked closely, I saw that his shaking gaze was fixed on the clothes in my hand.
... Why?
"... This will be a clear warning. All right."
"?"
What warning?
Hey, why are you leaving like that? I'm getting anxious for no reason!
The door closed without a sound, and I, who was left confused, quietly picked up my clothes and glared at them.
'No matter how I look at it, there's nothing wrong...'
I felt uneasy for no reason. I should wear something else.
Of course, the idea of wearing black clothes did not change, so I took out another black suit from the closet. Thanks to the fact that the Demon King gave me a lot of black and navy clothes, there was no problem of not having other clothes to replace them with.
The effect of black clothing was amazing!
As if the huge fanatics from before were a lie, no one really came to me. Rather, everyone was avoiding me on their own, but would you really believe it if there was even a demon with a red heart brooch among them?
'Long live the black clothes!'
I never thought it would be effective in exorcising demons.
I don't think the robe worked, but is it only clothes that work? If I wear it too often, it may lose its effectiveness, so I'll have to use it only occasionally.
I walked down the street feeling much more at ease.
***
Demon was in a bad mood.
After he wore black clothes and knocked over a plate at a restaurant a long time ago, the 'black clothes' he wore in the Demon King's Castle were recognized as a warning showing that he was in a bad mood.
Pure black without any number or decoration. How would the demons feel when they saw the Commander of the 0th Corps wearing those clothes?
'If you catch his attention, you will die.'
'Let's be unobtrusive.'
'If necessary, I could use all my magical power to escape... Ah, magic use was prohibited.'
'Do I die to the Demon King or to Demon...?'
He was a person who usually stayed only in his own room. The fact that he even came out to shout out probably meant that he was going to catch a scapegoat and kill him.
They respected him, but life is precious. The demons began to slowly avoid him and return.
This was the same for the Demon Cult believers who wore red heart brooches. It was a little different in that the reason was that they couldn't make Demon feel worse.
'I can't be of help, but I can't offend Demon any further!'
'Let's hide well. If there is someone among us who offends Daemon, that person will be kicked out immediately.'
Knowingly or unknowingly, all the nerves of the countless demons were focused on one side, and his wandering steps without a destination for a long time stopped in the middle of the road.
At the same time, the demons watching stopped breathing.
In the tense silence, the corners of his mouth rose silently.
'!'
Did he find a scapegoat? Maybe it was because he found something worth complaining about.
There was a smile on his face that probably didn't mean anything good either way.
***
Have I ever said that the size of the Demon King's Castle is like that of a small city in the Empire?
It's not just about size. It was safe to say that the Demon's King Castle was a small city.
The Demon King's castle was largely divided into the inner castle and the outer castle. If we compare this to the capital of the Empire, the inner city would be the Imperial Palace and the outer castle would be a city inside the walls outside the Imperial Palace.
In the inner castle, there were key figures such as the Demon King, the Corps Commanders, and each corps members, as well as employees who were responsible for the lives of all these people, and in the outer castle, there were ordinary demon soldiers and...
'Oh, I don't know.'
How do you list all those positions?
Anyway, there were a variety of demons in the outer castle who held incredibly diverse positions. The atmosphere was like the streets of a human city.
The only difference was that it sold simple food on the street...
Ah, can it be called 'selling'? Because there is no money circulating inside the Demon King's Castle.
In any case, even such street vendors were placed in a thoroughly calculated position.
Restaurants, street vendors, bars, open-air training grounds, etc... Everything that exists in the outer castle was placed one by one in the most efficient location by the Demon King in collaboration with the leaders.
'If the enemy breaks through the castle gate, all of this will become a shield blocking the way and a cover for a surprise attack.'
Or it could turn into an offensive weapon.
Whatever the intention, it seems to me now to be an ordinary city street. Since no money was exchanged, it could be considered a better place than the human world.
It was comfortable since there were no demons around. A smile appeared on my face for the first time in a while. Ed, who had been quietly observing me from the side, pointed somewhere with his finger as if to divert my attention.
"Demon, since it's been a long time since you've been here, how about trying something?"
"I'm not hungry..."
"I see. Excuse me..."
"But I will eat."
"...."
Well. Why?
It looked delicious.
'Yum.'
The skewers, I couldn't tell what kind of meat they were made from, were delicious. Don't worry about where the meat comes from. As long as it's delicious, that's fine.
I looked at Ed, pretending not to notice the black shell piled up in the corner of my vision. He was whispering something to the demon who handed him the skewer.
At first glance, I heard people say things like, "Don't be nervous," or "Do you want to die?" I guess he was irritated because he fell too hard when I handed him the skewer.
'Well, he was shaking so hard even I could see.'
Anyway, I thought that if I left it like this, something unfortunate would happen that would cause the poor demon's heart to stop, so I swallowed the meat in my mouth and hurriedly called Ed.
"Ed."
"Yes, Demon."
"I want to look around somewhere else, can you give me directions?"
"Ah yes. All right. You be careful."
He, who had warned the demons until the very end, hurriedly approached me.
"What do you want to focus on?"
"Well... It would be nice to be able to change my mood."
"If it's a change of mood..."
He thought for a moment and took his step.
After obediently following Ed for a while, we arrived at the open entrance to the training ground.
'Surely we won't fight?'
For some reason, I thought he was guiding me normally, but in the end, it turned out like this. I was sighing deeply in my mind and thinking about ways to avoid a situation where I would have to pick up a weapon, but Ed, who I thought would lead me straight inside, approached the demon who was providing the weapon at the entrance and said something.
The demon's face became troubled as to what on earth he had said.
"Bring it."
"But..."
"I will get permission. So, if you don't want to die..."
No, hey. I said it was a change of mood. Why are you threatening other people with their lives?
If you do that, I will really pay for it. I thought I couldn't waste any more time looking for a place to throw away the skewers I had eaten, so I just held them in my hands and walked towards them.
"Ed, what now...!"
Tak. An ominous sound was heard.
[1] It originally said "turn it off" instead of "leave" here. The other option I considered replacing it with was "die."