I slightly opened my mouth as if it was absurd.
"This is only about Master's nature, excluding the current situation."
"No... no matter what... I don't think I'm kind."
"Well. Usually, families that can avoid responsibility by blaming others naturally end up blaming others. It's so painful to blame yourself."
"..."
"I think it can be seen as a kind of self-protection instinct."
My mouth fell shut.
Dan, who lightly moistened his mouth with the glass in his hand, spoke slowly.
"Nevertheless, Master chose to blame himself instead of blaming others. Even though it was more of a passing relationship rather than a deep friendship. If this isn't good, what is?"
"... That should be seen as an objective judgment rather than a good thing."
"Do you think you blame innocent others because you don't know how to judge others objectively? Everyone does this even though they know it's not true."
I put down the glass that still clinked a little.
Before he knew it, Dan had put down the empty bottle and lightly grabbed my wrist as I reached for a new bottle, stopping me and placing the bottle he opened in the normal way in front of me.
I glanced at him, picked up the finely opened bottle, and said.
"I put countless lives at risk for my own personal purposes."
"I know."
"And yet, without even knowing the subject, you are directing your gaze of resentment towards another being."
"I know that too."
"I destroyed the Empire..."
"I know that too. When did I say that Master does not blame others?"
Why are you so stubbornly denying something that you can just move on from?
Dan poured all the liquid remaining in the glass into his mouth and filled the glass again.
"The former master said that instead of blaming others, he chose to blame himself."
"That's it. Even so in the case of the shaman, seeing my attitude towards the Duke and the Emperor, what were you thinking when you said that..."
"Is that so? Then let me correct it. Master chose to blame himself before blaming others."
"..."
"If he had blamed others instead of blaming himself in the first place, I wouldn't have said those kinds of words."
"But."
"Master."
In the first place, he didn't say this to start an argument.
Since it was just a casual remark, it would be better to get it over with quickly, so Dan opened his mouth without dragging it on.
"Who is the most resentful and hateful being in the world?"
"..."
I stiffened, as if speechless. Dan raised his glass with an expression that seemed like he expected that to happen.
"That's why it is like that."
The way he saw it, he just became like that because he had overflowing feelings towards yourself. He may claim that he blames others in order to survive because he felt like he was going to kill himself, but that's just because he was blaming himself and the emotions that overflowed from resentment were aimed at others.
As the time we spent together became longer.
Dan was also aware of Deon.
***
Ed couldn't refuse Deon's orders, so he was moving to bring him plenty of alcohol, but that doesn't mean he felt safe.
No matter how much Deon has changed, has even his drinking changed?
Since he has become a warrior, it was questionable whether he could take it, but he could not ignore the possibility that it was just one chance. If the drunkenness really spreads, the Demon King's Castle will be overturned again.
So Ed chose to go to the Demon King and report before bringing alcohol to Deon Hardt.
'Oh, it's okay.'
He got an answer.
'Deon's drunkenness was caused by his time being frozen in the past.'
'The past... you mean?'
'Yes.'
The Eight Year War.
The Demon King, hearing Ed swallow hard, grinned to reassure him. Ed was startled when he saw the Demon King's smile, but he didn't care.
'He is living in the present now, so there will be no problem.'
Deon Hardt split his memories from the Eight Years' War.
Since then, he had been avoiding uncomfortable truths and situations by distinguishing between what he could and could not remember and passing them on to his subconscious, which means that his mind has not had a chance to grow.
Memory separation implemented to survive on the battlefield. Memories that have not merged even though the war is over. A time when he was stuck in the situation at the time without being able to grow.
It was not for nothing that drunkenness made him seek out enemies.
The time when Deon Hardt separated his memories was during the Eight Year War when he was desperate for survival.
To be exact, it had not been that long since he had entered the Eight Year War and he had just devised his cruel method of combat.
'Obsessed with the enemy and obsessed with blood... He wasn't used to it yet, so he couldn't control the 'degree' properly and went on a bit of an extreme rampage.'
Now that his memories were merging and his mind was growing again in time, there was no problem.
'In the first place, there is no way for a hero who is immune to poison to get drunk on alcohol or something like that.'
'Ah...'
There were a lot of things Ed didn't understand, but he did know that he wouldn't get into that scary drunken state.
It looks like he omitted it on purpose, but if that were the case, he wouldn't have been able to answer if he asked. Ed, satisfied with just getting a confirmation, nodded obediently and walked away.
***
As expected, Deon Hardt was not drunk.
Dan muttered, "As expected of a hero..." Deon looked irritated and poured some of the liquid left in the bottle into his mouth. This makes six bottles.
Nevertheless, let alone getting drunk, he didn't even feel tipsy, so in the end he got really annoyed and took out a cigarette. Dan lit the fire familiarly.
"Are you not going to drink any more?"
"Even if I drink it, you won't get drunk. It's not like my memory is interrupted, but I should feel moderately intoxicated."
The good news is that the drug in the form of a cigarette is effective as long as you smoke it. Perhaps because the drug remains in the lungs, the effect may remain for a while even after the cigarette is extinguished.
Deon, who was staring blankly at the liquor bottle on the table with a cigarette in his mouth, came to his senses only when the end of the burned butt dropped ashes.
No, he seemed not to have fully come to his senses yet, and muttered softly as he caught the falling ash with his palm.
"Originally, after the guild withdrew from the human world, it tried to expand into the demon world..."
"..."
"It seems like the only thing we can gain is money."
There was no need as the money was already overflowing.
What's important is whether or not it can have a beneficial influence on this side at a critical moment... To be honest, the possibility was very slim.
It's not because he thought it would be difficult to grow the guild.
Since there are four cities with strong characteristics, they will be able to quickly grow in size if the guild just moves back and forth and acts as a bridge. If he focused his troops on the reason that the monsters on the road that are bothersome need to be eliminated anyway, they will be eliminated quickly.
However, he didn't think there will be any use for it even if it got that big. Deon, who was unable to find any useful use for his efforts, chose to give up.
"Well, if you think about it seriously, you might come up with something useful, but there's no need to be cautious by making unnecessary moves when you hear something like that..."
Damn vampire.
Deon narrowed his eyes in annoyance, put out the almost burned butt in his throat, and took out a new cigarette.
"... I have no choice but to be self-respecting for the time being."
Words don't even have a form, but they leave a residue deeper than anyone else's.
The vampire's remarks today must have had an impact, knowingly or unknowingly, on those who heard her.
"Master is really..."
When Deon looked up, he made eye contact with Dan. He spoke with a smile.
"A disaster."
He had expected this since he was wary of the demons... but he never thought he would really have the demon world in mind as well. A small expression of admiration flashed across Dan's face.
Dan noticed from Deon Hardt's previous remarks that he was defining the Demon King's Army as the enemy. It's just a thought, but hasn't he considered allowing the guild to advance into the demon world? To try something similar to what we did in the human world!
'From his perspective, this place is in the middle of enemy territory.'
It's so cruel to think like that here. He laughed.
Deon, who was holding a lit cigarette, burst into laughter as if laughter was contagious.
"It just so happened to be like that."
"Haha..."
Speaking of disaster, he was reminded of what the shaman said when he met her.
She called him an explosive that would explode one day.
Dan tilted his head.
"... What?"
"No, it's just..."
At that time, Dan heard the shaman's words reciting the intertwined fates of himself and Deon Hardt, and he still remembered them. Therefore, he glanced at Deon once again and muttered a question without realizing it.
"Did our relationship explode because the fire started, or did the fire start because the explosive exploded?"
"I don't know. Still, I am convinced that by the time I met the shaman and heard what she said, it had already happened."
"If it was already after the explosion, it means we met before that... The only time we met before that was during the Eight Year War... our first meeting..."
"Yes. At that time."
From their first meeting, young Deon learned from Dan that hemoptysis must be hidden.
To be precise, he could survive only if he didn't look easy. A simple but important realization led to the expansion of territory, inventing combat methods, and separating memories. It would be safe to say that it started with Dan's advice.
'Thanks to you, I survived...'
The first thing he said when he saw his face was 'Get out of here' with a threat asking if he wanted to die.
When word came back that he had a foul mouth, he cursed as much as he could, saying that he would show him what true foul language was.
Dan's expression was strange, and he must have remembered that time. Deon hesitated for a moment in the past, which was quite embarrassing at the moment, and naturally opened his mouth as if he had never done that before.
"If it weren't for your advice, I wouldn't have lasted long and died. For that, I am grateful."
"..."
"Anyway."
He put out his cigarette again and got up from his seat.
"Clean up all the remaining alcohol and put it in the cart."
"Are you trying to return it?"
"If it's an item, it's kind of edible, so it's a bit strange to return it if it's leftover. They won't even try to take it."
"Then..."
"Follow me."
Deon, who had helped Dan move several intact liquor bottles onto the cart, turned his back.
***
The place he was heading to was the lodgings of the Lofty Knights.
Dan, who had been silently following Deon's steps, paused for a moment at the lodgings in front of him. The eyes that showed the back going inside without hesitation shook slightly.
'Why...'
He thought he wouldn't find them at least today.
He knew what he was thinking when he came here. However...
He heard Deon's voice.
"It's quiet. That's not right."
"... They might be at the training ground. Because they are always gathered there."
"No. I looked when I was in the room and there was no one there."
When did he check that again? Dan sighed and blinked slowly.
It was obvious when he looked at the quiet place that should be noisy. they must have been away as he said. It would be suspicious to anyone if not just one or two, but almost half of the people who had nowhere else to go suddenly left.
'I'll get caught.'
He had to be prepared to get scolded. The steps were heavy and filled with resignation.
It was then that he heard a voice.
"What, Captain...?"
A Lofty Knights member who spotted Deon confidently crossing the hallway stopped in place and rubbed his eyes.
The guy blinked blankly for a moment at the sight of Deon, who was clearly visible even after removing any possible foreign matter from his eyes. As if he understood the situation, he jumped up on the spot and shouted.
"It's really the Captain!"