The Devil's Strongest Hand (2)

That's when I realized what was going on.

You damned body! I'm going to have to cut you open! Damn it!

I see papers stained with blood. And the demon with my blood on his hand... oh, my God.

'It was a dirty life.

I muttered a quick suicide note and hastily covered my mouth and slid away from the desk.

The papers were already tainted, stained with blood from the demon's hands. I could hear him grinding his teeth in anger.

Swallowing the scream that threatened to burst from the flesh that pierced my body, I opened my mouth to speak.

"Sorry. The paperwork can be found at...."

"That's not the issue right now! Get the attending physician! Get the attending physician of the 0th Corps! What are you doing when the patient is sick!"

...Huh?

I was caught off guard by the unexpected.

After a while, my brain could barely come up with a different assumption.

Oh, you're mad at your doctor.

In short, it's like this. I had this accident because I'm sick. That means that my doctor didn't do a good job, which means that the reason I crashed is because of my doctor.

So, instead of stomping on me, you're going to stomp on your doctor.

So where does that leave the resentment of a doctor who just got burned?

This is a demon castle. Reminding myself that the doctor was also a demon, I sank back into my seat with a liberated expression.

Holy shit, we're screwed.

***.

"Where are you and what are you doing when the patient is sick?!"

The overwhelming Magi swept through the castle.

It's not hard to see who the owner of this rich, heavy Maggi is. Dr. Ben was ready to die today, so he hastily packed his bag.

The only subordinate he'd think of like this is his patient, the proud commander of the 0th Legion, Daemon.

When you arrive at the Demon King's office, you find him sitting on the floor with his mouth covered. Blood drips from his hands.

It made a mess on the carpet in his office, but he didn't care, because he knew the king wouldn't care about that.

I scolded myself as I hastily helped him to his feet and sat him down on the couch.

If you can't show up when you're sick, you're disqualified as a doctor. If the Daemon were to snap my neck in anger, I would have nothing to say about it.

But first, we'll need to recover.

First, I held up three fingers.

First, an awareness check.

"Daemon, can you hear me, how many of these do you see?"

"Three."

Consciousness normal, vision normal.

Everyone on Demon Island knows why you're doing this. I couldn't help but notice.

He would, too, because everyone saw it.

A mere mortal restraining a warrior who is about to blow himself up.

And then, with a simple wave of his hand, he took the life of a warrior.

Having taken the brunt of the warrior's self-destruction all by himself, it's no wonder his body is broken.

So, am I being shallow?

"No way.

Being weak is not the same as being able to fight. With any other fish, you would be different. Perhaps you can take this life right now if you wish, and I will only know that I am dead when I am dead.

I could tell by the look in his eyes that he was alive and well, even though he was coughing up blood right now.

Eyes so red you'd think fresh blood would pool in them. Those eyes, made even more striking by his white hair, had a definite 'death' to them.

I've killed many, I've seen many, many deaths. How dare you look down on me.

Fighting back a surge of fear and awe, Ben spoke calmly.

"As you might expect, it's an aftereffect."

As expected, resignation flashed across the Demon King's face, and he too was silent for a moment in bitterness, but not as much as the Daemon himself.

The look of not even caring. No, that's definitely a look of boredom.

Because you've heard it so many times that you're already sick of it.

As if on cue, he buried himself deeper into the couch, holding the handkerchief he'd been given by the devil to his mouth.

His resignation, or rather, his near-nirvana, left Ben, and even the Devil, speechless.

"I can't believe he's doing this.

If it were any other legionnaire, there would have been an uproar, but it would have been long overdue.

You might draw a sword, swing a fist, or sit quietly and threaten. He'd glare at you with life-like eyes, demanding that you fix it somehow.

That's your job.

That's your raison d'être.

As my mind raced that far, a sigh escaped me. Not a sigh of frustration or anger, but a sigh of relief.

Subconsciously, Ben was thinking how lucky he was to be Corps Commander 0's physician.

"No, this is not the time for this.

I immediately shook off my thoughts and emotions and quickly searched through Wang Jin's bag.

"As always, it's just medicine for my internal wounds, and I'm sorry that's all I can do for you."

"Thank you."

Ben's eyes slowly closed and opened as he watched Daemon take the vial and eat it.

You've done your homework, and now the inevitable time has come.

Since he had just arrived, the demon had been giving off a "you, let me see you" vibe. Knowing full well that the price of disrespect is death, he cautiously rose from his seat and faced the demon.

I have no complaints. I don't blame him. It's my own fault for not being able to respond quickly enough to the patient's anomaly.

I'm sure you're thinking of anger, or at least dislike, if not rage.

Therefore, it was prepared to suffer the wrath of the Demon King and, if it lived, the wrath of the Daemon Lord. The one who should be most angry was the Daemon himself.

...Why?

***.

The devil is trying to kill your doctor!

I reflexively jumped out of my seat and grabbed Ben's wrist.

Ben's eyes widen in surprise. Equally surprised, the demon looks at me with wide eyes.

Surprised? I was, too, but I couldn't help myself.

I'm afraid that if he stays with the doctor, all of his resentment will be directed at me. Even Ben, who is usually a moderate person, would be upset if he was chastised for something that wasn't his fault.

By then, it's too late.

I must be stopped if I am to live!

With that in mind, I opened my mouth to speak first to the still speechless demon.

"I'm not feeling well, so I'm stepping down, along with my doctor, of course. Unfortunately, we'll have to save the resignation talk for later."

"Uh, huh? Resign, resign...? No, okay, go get some rest."

I don't want to talk about my resignation letter.

I stormed out of the office, telling myself that it was a bad time to be here.

And I don't know how long I walked.

When we stopped walking, we were standing in the middle of a fairly long hallway.

It's not like there aren't a couple of hallways, so I sneak a peek out the window to get a feel for the location.

As in the sunless realm, the hallway window looked out onto a garden shrouded in the veil of night. In the absence of the sun, three moons have taken its place, softly illuminating the garden.

You might think the landscape is pretty nice up to this point, but look at that. That flower has teeth. It's a cannibalistic plant. Even the plant next to it has eyeballs. And it's blinking!

As I shuddered in disgust, I heard a faint voice beside me.

"Me, Daemon...."

"Hmm? ...a."

I realized I was still holding my wrist. I was so distracted that I didn't even realize it.

I let go of his hand and glanced over at Ben. You're not offended, are you?

Luckily, I didn't see any unpleasantness on his face; instead, I saw a complexion that was almost as white as mine.

It seems to be getting restless somehow....

"Are you sick?"

"No, I'm just...."

A look of frustration crosses his face.

I looked at him with a lot of concern, wondering if he was really sick, and he let out a small gasp.

Ben pursed his pale lips, and then, as if thinking about something, he bit his lip once hard and leaned back.

"At the risk of being presumptuous, I dare you to make it as painless as possible!"

"...Huh?"

For a moment, I forgot to control my facial expressions. By now, the emotion of bewilderment was blatantly evident on my face, and the silly voice was a bonus.

I'm glad he's crouched down. Judging by his lack of movement, I don't think he heard my voice either.

I quickly managed my expression and cleared my throat.

I'm not going to ask you outright what the hell that means, so I'm going to rephrase it a bit and say....

"What does that mean?"

"Oh... no, I didn't, I slipped up, sorry!"

At best, I ask nicely, and they freak out.

What's wrong with this guy? He can't cut his own hair, and his doctor is sick?

He's even my primary care physician.

I let out a small sigh, uneasy that I might be putting my body in the hands of a patient.

"I don't kill."

I don't know what it is, but it doesn't kill. No, it doesn't.

If I had the power to kill demons, I'd have ditched my role as Legionnaire long ago and escaped, so why would I stay here and live in fear?

I sigh at this newfound realization.

I staggered back to my room, leaving Ben behind with a sullen heart.

***.

Despite appearances, I know you are the most generous of all Legionnaires. But I never expected you to embrace someone who hasn't even fulfilled his duty.

No, he seems to think I didn't fulfill my obligation in the first place.

I don't know if it's because he's a human, or because he thinks differently than demons.

Imagine his embarrassment when I asked him to kill me painlessly, so much so that the normally respectful man said, 'What?

But there's a reason for that illusion. The other Legionnaires, if they had saved me, it would have been because I had to kill him with my own hands to free him.

I wish I had stopped myself right then and there. Unfortunately, I didn't realize that he was offended by my words and even begged for forgiveness. I put the burden on him.

With a slap on the back of the head and nothing to say, the Daemon raised his hand and spoke with a faint sigh.

[Does not kill].

Honestly, I was shocked. This is generous, but maybe too generous.

I've always been proud to be his doctor, but never more so than today. I think I'm going to grab a bottle of booze and visit Setter, the official Legionnaire's doctor.

I could already see him being overcome with envy when he had to deal with the usual bad-tempered legionnaires.

Of course, there's work to be done before that.

'To make sure it never happens again....'

Ben's eyes gleamed slightly as he recalled the unfortunate sight of my patient, Daemon Arut, bleeding to death.