Their eyes moved again and landed on the only remaining human. Yes, me. Me.
"..."
"..."
What… Why aren't you saying anything?
The expressions on their faces when they looked at me were subtle. An expression that didn't tell me what they're thinking.
It would be strange for me to take the initiative to defend myself, so I just waited for the words to come out of their mouths, and then the fairy tribe who had left after receiving orders, probably because they had retrieved the brown liquid, fell in front of the fairy king.
"I brought it."
"Is this..."
A familiar smell passed my nose.
This...
"It smells like coffee."
"Is it coffee?"
Even if I smelled it again, it still smells like coffee. A vaguely familiar coffee scent.
But even if it's coffee, it's strange. Even though coffee makes you mentally alert, it doesn't have the effect of turning monsters into mutants... right?
'You have to have fed coffee to a monster to know that.'
The answer came from the Fairy King.
"It is said that monsters became stronger after eating this, so it must not be coffee. Where did you get this?"
"I collected what fell from the monsters' mouths. I wanted to find the source, but I couldn't follow it because the traces led to the demons' territory."
"Our territory?"
The Demon King said something about wide-range magic, but it looks like he actually used it. Otherwise, it wouldn't have been possible to come back this quickly.
The Demon King, who looks so well kept as if if he went for a walk nearby and not monster vanquishing, looked at the unknown liquid without any sign of fatigue. After a moment of interest, a laugh was heard as if it was ridiculous.
"It seems like they wanted to frame our race. I'll allow it, so just find the source."
I'm curious about the culprit's face. It was a low, threatening voice, like a growl. The Fairy King stared at him for a moment and then spat out a word.
"Did you hear?"
"Yes."
He's really busy too... He looked at the back of the fairy family disappearing again with sad eyes and then lowered his gaze. The heads of the two tribes made eye contact.
...?!
"This person has no reason to do something like that, right?"
"Yes."
"But if you look at the 'reason', there really is no culprit."
"That too."
The atmosphere took a strange turn.
Does it feel like they're questioning each reason one by one, only to turn it over again and start doubting it from the beginning? But it seems like it started with me.
"This man is special, but this is another matter."
What, so you're doubting me now? I couldn't understand what was going on so I just stayed silent, but the Demon King came out with his face crumpled in dissatisfaction.
"Wait a minute, are you suspecting Demon now?"
Demon King...!
He confirmed with annoyance, as if he was very uncomfortable with the situation of doubting me.
"It's not Demon."
"How can you be sure of that..."
"I told you that when you asked me before if you could trust him. He is very trustworthy 'as long as he is here'. He's here next to me now. You can trust him."
I don't know what the conversation is about, but I know he's defending me.
Honestly, I was a little impressed. As I was looking at the Demon King with new eyes, the fairies appeared again. He was holding a familiar-shaped water bottle in his hand.
... Uh? Wait a second.
'Why are you holding that?'
It was a tonic... a container... that Remember had given me for when I came to the demon realm... but I was quick to grasp the situation.
'I'm going crazy.'
I am the cause. What on earth did the palace doctor make? I'd like to discuss the palace's alchemy... no, the medicine-making skills, but the situation was not right now. What we need to think about right now is how to explain this without dying.
While I was half out of my mind at the shocking truth, the vulgar fairy politely offered the bottle of water and immediately opened their mouth.
"There was this at the entrance to an unnamed mountain range to the west of the demon realm. There were several cans, but I thought one was enough, so I brought only this."
"That one smell is the perfect coffee scent. Was it disguised on purpose? I don't know who he is, but he's really meticulous... Demon King? Why is your expression like that?"
"No... nothing..."
The Demon King seems to have noticed, too.
In fact, this barrel was discovered in the mountains of the demon realm, and although it was said to be an 'unnamed mountain range', there was nothing that cannot be inferred since the direction was also known.
He raised his hand and gently touched my shoulder. As I slowly raised my gaze, I saw the corners of his mouth turned up a little stiffly, unlike usual.
"Anyway, he's not the criminal... so don't be suspicious. We'll just have to go."
"Without even solving this case?"
"I have a Corps Commander meeting soon. We'll talk about this separately later. Okay then."
"Wait...!"
My perspective has changed.
Back in the central garden of the Demon King's Castle, I quietly raised my head and saw the Demon King.
It's not something I should say in this situation where I made a mistake... but I still feel like I need to say it.
"You left Hien behind."
"Ah."
***
We need to reduce the use of magic, so do we really need to bring him back?
He thought about it for a moment, but he had no choice.
Anyway, Hien was a talented gardener who oversaw almost all the plants in the Demon King's Castle. It was obvious that without him, managing the plants would be quite difficult.
"Demon King?"
"... Okay, I should bring him. wait a minute."
Actually, not using magic was an excuse. Even without looking, he could clearly see how the Fairy King would look at him, so the Demon King quietly sighed.
It's because he was so embarrassed. He didn't know how long it had been since he had been this embarrassed. It must have been several decades. After looking with admiration at the cause of the emotional turmoil, he moved back to the central garden, which had been magically treated for interaction with the heads of each race, as a medium.
"... Excuse me."
He turned away from the Fairy King, who was looking at him with a bewildered expression, snatched the gardener with a bewildered expression, and returned to release him in the garden. He still seemed dazed, but like a demon who had survived in this place for a long time, he quickly came to his senses and ran away.
He looked at the guy's back and then turned his gaze to Deon, who was still standing still. He didn't even twitch his fingertips, as if he knew he had done something wrong.
"... Deon Hardt."
"... Yes."
"..."
"..."
There was a lot he wanted to say, but there was not much he could say.
If he said something wrong, the guy who was walking the tightrope might decide where to stand and end up on the floor. As a Demon King with his arms wide open underneath, waiting for this guy to fall on his side, he couldn't say anything carelessly.
"... I can roughly guess the situation, but it would be better to be sure."
"..."
"First of all... you brought those drugs, right?"
"Yes."
"It was probably for your body."
A weak body full of aftereffects.
"You're right."
"It was probably made by another human."
Were aftereffects just aftereffects?
Deon Hardt's body was not the kind that could be healed. So, Deon himself wouldn't have asked for the medicine. He probably was forced to bring it with him even though he didn't need it.
As expected, Deon nodded in the affirmative. The Demon King, who gained confidence, continued to make assumptions in his head.
"I guess the reason you came over here and threw it away was because you were forced to take it, right?"
"Yes."
"To just throw away such a dangerous drug... No, no. You probably didn't know either."
Even if he drank it himself, he wouldn't have felt such a big effect.
Rather, we should pay attention to the person who created that level of medicine. Who on Earth was it? Judging from the effects, it felt like they were determined to make Deon Hardt's body better... no, it felt like they had a desperate determination, as if their life depended on it.
'Did any of the humans succeed in the alchemy they had only talked about?'
It was only for a moment that a trembling feeling crossed his smiling face.
The Demon King, who had a smiling expression on his face again as if he had never done that, took a step closer and placed a hand on Deon's shoulder. A light touch, as if comforting rather than pressuring, was delivered to Deon with the intention of reassuring him.
"Okay, as long as it wasn't intentional, it's okay."
"...!"
"You seem surprised. Go in and get some rest."
"The Corps Commander's meeting..."
"Oh, it's already been this long... It's okay to take back what I've already said... It's okay to leave."
Permission to leave, not a command to leave.
There was nothing specifically preventing him from participating in the meeting, so if he missed the meeting like this, he was doing so out of his own volition, so he was not breaking the rules of the game.
'It's already been so long... what is it?'
He knew this and said this on purpose. If the Emperor was a snake, then the Demon King was a thousand-year-old snake, or rather, an imoogi[1]. The Demon King, who naturally narrowed the way to participate in the meeting and reduced the leakage of information, spoke with a grin.
"Ah, if resting here isn't enough. If you miss the daylight, you can always go to the human world."
The location tracking stigma was still clearly engraved.
Additionally, he would have earned points for his response to this incident, so there would be no problem if he were sent to the Empire right away.
'The demon realm and the human world are at war, and he is a high-ranking being from both sides going back and forth between the two camps…'
That would be fun.
Even though he knew that the moment Deon Hardt returned to the Empire would be the start of an all-out war, the Demon King calmly raised his other hand and touched both
of Deon's shoulders. The reversed eyes, the symbol of the Demon King, faced red eyes.
"Instead, I hope you don't bring drugs or anything like that. Even if you bring it with you, don't throw it away anywhere… so you'd better bring it to me right away."
"... Yes."
***
It only took a moment for me to cool off from the talk about drugs.
'You can skip the meeting…'
What kind of scary words are you saying?
Did you think that I would just be happy? I'm not a clueless idiot. I always wanted to skip the meeting, but I knew that if I accepted the Demon King's words and skipped out, I would never get good results.
'You don't have to live only for today. You have to look at the future rather than the present.'
Even if I don't, I feel pricked by my conscience for lounging around instead of working, so why should I even indulge in this? So be sure to participate.
In the grand scheme of things, life was at stake. I participated in the meeting with the enthusiasm of a newbie who had just gotten a job, and...
I regretted it.
'Yes, if a meeting were held in the current situation, the topic would naturally be this.'
War with the Empire.
…Passion is shit. Let's not make a fuss and just stay still.
From now on, I am a bean bug. I quietly lowered my eyes, hoping to avoid being noticed by the Demon King as much as possible.
***
Deon Hardt was not stupid. After all, he was a human walking antightrope between the Demon King and the Emperor, so he can't be stupid. If he was stupid, he would have died long ago.The Demon King, who was staring at Deon, who had entered the meeting with his chin tilted crookedly at the head of the table, raised the corner of his mouth as if he could not be seen.
'You noticed.'
Deon Hardt saw through the Demon King's intention to prevent information leaks and participated in the meeting in the nick of time. The proof was that even though he participated in a meeting, he lowered his eyes and showed no interest as if he was not interested. Close your mouth, keep your ears open, and focus on the information coming to you.
Well, actually, it was a situation where he had no choice but to participate even if he didn't like it. He couldn't go back to the Empire without any information.
Even so, in a precarious situation where you have to choose a side in the near future, you go back and meet the Emperor, but there is no information to give?
'It will arouse the Emperor's suspicion.'
It was a sensitive time, with monarchs on both sides paying close attention to Deon Hardt's actions. Doubt in this situation could lead to death, so from Deon Hardt's point of view, he had to get something that could answer the Emperor's question and return home in order to survive.
'I guess he'll remain neutral for now.'
The Emperor wouldn't just sit back and watch, but how long can he continue like that?
The Demon King had never been pressed for time and was relaxed even in the current situation, but he was not a human emperor. It seemed like he was holding out for fear that Deon Hardt's choice will have a negative impact, but in the end, it was human patience. The Demon King was confident that the Emperor would urge Deon Hardt again as soon as possible.
That too, with the option of killing being considered.
Either join or die.
'And Deon Hardt, feeling the burden, will come to me.'
It was a mask worn for that moment. Deon Hardt, feeling the gaze, quietly watched as he turned his head in this direction and smiled at the moment their eyes met.
"Let's begin the meeting. I'm sure everyone has guessed the topic, right?"
[1] Giant serpent from Korea folklore. Can be considered a "proto-dragon"; it patiently waits in caves and in water for thousands of years until it can transform into a Yong, or Celestial Dragon, by catching an orb called "Yeouiju."