General Deon Hart (1)

"I hate paperwork!"

That's what I said when I was first approached by the Demon King. By assuming the unofficial title of Commander of the 0th Legion, I became a scarecrow, a puppet in a seat.

I don't really have any complaints. When I see other corps leaders sulking under piles of paperwork, I'm almost glad I said that.

However, there is one fatal flaw:....

"I'm bored!"

I'm so bored! There's nothing to do, it's always night in the demon world, and the garden is full of horrible plants.

But going to the Demon King is insane, and going to the other Legionnaires is going to get me killed, and the ones under me are always avoiding me because they don't want to deal with humans, and I can't trust them either... so there's only so much I can do.

For example, a very sound.... like a cube or a puzzle.

"Hit me, hit me, hit me!"

Chirp.

Thousands of puzzle pieces flew through the air. I grunted and looked around the room. Large, neatly fitted puzzles were framed and adorning the walls.

At first, I was just doing 50 or 60 for fun, and before I knew it, I was doing 6000.

Damn, I could sell it. I'm an asshole, too focused for my own good.

I chuckled to myself at the sudden overwhelming feeling of helplessness and flung open the door. I could see the user waiting at the door visibly flinch and duck his head in panic. Pretending not to notice his desperate movements to avoid even eye contact, I said, "I'm sorry.

"Bring me a drink."

"What?!"

"Alcohol. It doesn't matter what kind, as long as it's alcohol."

"Ha, but...."

He hesitated for a long time, looking like he was going to cry, in contrast to his desperate, do-anything attitude.

I think I have a pretty good idea why this is the case. Apparently, Ben stopped them.

I was born weak, as evidenced by my unusually white hair, red eyes, and pale skin. It's also why I cough up blood at every opportunity.

It's a good thing we can chalk it up to "aftereffects of battle with a warrior" here, but it's a little sad that he can't drink. Or, more accurately, it's a shame about Ben's work ethic.

When I was a kid, the doctor who examined me once said.

[It seems like all the health that should be spread throughout your body is concentrated in your liver!]

It's probably not a lie, because I don't get drunk very easily. It's how I was able to get away with taking drugs that weren't good for me... Anyway.

So that means I'm okay to drink. I'm not going to die.

So give me a drink. Now is the time for a drink.

I can't stand the thought of myself sitting in my room doing puzzles with nothing to do.

I glared at him to hurry up and get it, and he shrugged and scurried away.

...Wait, what's the answer?!

"Surely you're not not going to import it."

Yeah, I don't think they ran away or went somewhere else to do something they weren't told to do.

Even as I muttered this, I shuddered at the ominousness of the situation.

The ominous feeling was spot on. The servant who had fled without answering had returned.

─Take a bunch of demons.

You traitorous bastard.

"You want a drink?"

He glared at the servant with resentment, then quickly looked away at the sound of the demon's voice.

I shook my head, half-despondent, knowing that if I said yes, I would now be nagged.

But what came back was even better than expected.

"Were you really that tired?"

"...What?"

"I knew you'd be bored with the lack of battles lately, but I didn't realize it was this bad. I must have been looking at you too hard, and I apologize."

Ah, no, no, no, wait a minute.

I just wanted to get drunk, why did my stream of consciousness go in that direction...?

"I could get you involved in a small battle if you'd like. The commander of the 9th Corps has been complaining of boredom lately. I think it would turn the tide if you went, so what do you say, go there?"

If the 9th Corps commander is out of town....

"It's the front line.

A place where battles, large and small, are as frequent as the empire itself. You would send me to such a place?

Ah, I see. You want me to die as a meat shield on the battlefield, weak enough to be killed by alcohol, so I can be of some use.

I'm sorry. It's dirty and gross. Oh, you don't have to eat it.

"That's fine."

I'm not doing this because I'm scared. I'm doing it because I'm dirty.

"Well, that's a good call, you're not going to see enough blood to satisfy you."

Now I'm speechless. Oh, I stand corrected. I froze in fear.

I mean, yeah, sure, but it's not fair to threaten me like that for trying to get a drink.

I looked down, not wanting to make eye contact and give away my feelings. The demon's voice continued.

"No drinking, anyway. If you're bored, take a tour of the Four Legions, or at least the gardens. Hien says you've got some new flowers this time."

I raised my eyebrows in disbelief. The maniac?

He's a gardener, not to mention a demon. Dare I say, he's crazy, and he's definitely crazy. Crazy about what?

To a gross and dangerous cannibalistic plant!

At first, I scratched my head at the idea of a gardener in a demon castle, but after touring the garden with him, I was completely sold.

[This is why I work in a demon castle! I thought it was a peaceful job! I'll never believe in demons again!]

It's something I've experienced in my body and carved into my bones. I couldn't ignore it, so I looked at the demon with a serious expression.

"Let's look at the corps."

Legionnaires are dangerous, but they're certainly better than that crazy gardener.

It was only five minutes ago that I was heading to the training grounds of the Zero Legion thinking ....

"Uh, Daemon!"

"...hien."

She hastily raised a hand to swipe at her face to hide her flushed complexion.

I looked up and locked eyes with a dapper-looking man who had walked right up to me.

Boom!

"Are you tired?"

"Well, a little...."

"In that case, it's best to smell the roses, and I've got some new flowers, if you'd like to take a look, especially since you're the first to see them."

The Devil. The devil smiled, the corners of his eyes crinkling.

Normally, I'd be mesmerized, but instead, my mind was racing to find a way to get away. His looks didn't even register.

Why don't you fall for his looks? He's a man.

I may be a succubus, but I'm an incubus, and I'm not going to fall for it. I've been going crazy around here lately, but not so crazy that my gender identity has been shaken.

'By the way, ....'

He's got a talent for reducing options to a single one, incubus or otherwise.

Tired?

Root A: I'm tired > Flowers are the best for that!

Root B: I'm not tired > Then why don't you take a look at the flowers I put in this time....

Ordinarily, I would have been overwhelmed by his words and had to go around that awful garden. But now I have an excellent excuse.

"I'm sorry, I'm just about to go check on my legionnaires."

"Oh... I can't... put it off, can I?"

"...."

Be persistent.

I can procrastinate all I want. 0They don't come looking for me, and when they do, they don't approach me or talk to me, they just watch me go about my business with a light in their eyes.

Virtually all I can do there is stay in the corner, fiddle with my sword occasionally, and move out of the way.

Oh, and by touching the sword, I don't mean metaphorically, I mean physically. I don't want you to get your ass handed to you and then find out you're not as good as you think you are.

Anyway, so I can procrastinate, but I still hate it. Wasn't the whole point of heading to the 0th Legion-only training grounds in the first place to avoid this guy?

"...."

"...."

Suddenly, I realized that my silence was longer than I thought it would be; I'd been thinking too much and hadn't thought of the right time to answer.

I rolled my eyes at Hien, wondering if he'd gotten annoyed by the long silence. He was looking in this direction, too, and our eyes met.

Before I could think about how to react, Hien's shoulders shook. Then he leaned back, his usual coy smile gone.

"I'm sorry."

"...?"

"I was being presumptuous."

At this point, I feel the need to revisit the idea of demons as a race. It wouldn't hurt to have a proper discussion.

Now, today's thesis.

Is it a trait of demons to suddenly apologize?

"What's wrong with her?

***.

Hien is an incubus. The very incubus that is dismissed as trivial.

I got my job as a gardener in the demon castle by sheer luck. My hobby is collecting and growing all sorts of dangerous plants, and when I came across the street with a rare cannibalistic plant, it caught the eye of the king, who was out for a drink, and I was hired as his gardener.

There was no way he was going to be treated well by someone as high up as a legionnaire.

Right now, the servants spit and curse at you if you look them in the eye, but how dare you look a legionnaire in the eye. You'd be lucky if they didn't harass you. Some of them actually kicked you.

What can an incubus do against them, except put up with it.

It was another day of verbal abuse and violence.

"Incubus shit is...."

Hien, sprawled all over the garden he'd worked so hard to cultivate, stood up straight, his eyes fixed on the floor.

The loss of these precious plants was devastating, but we had more important things on our minds at the moment.

A 10th Legionnaire in a disagreeable mood.

He was muttering under his breath, frowning at the man who had blown up Hien just because he was in his way.

"I'm freaking out, I don't know what to do...."

Hien simply bowed his head.

A Tenth Legionnaire wants to show off his power. He will take it as a provocation if you stand up, as he would if you were facing a First or Third Legionnaire.

I was in pain, pretending not to be able to get up, shaking and putting my head down.

"ah...."

"Hmm?"

A small voice, unfamiliar and unbecoming of the Demon King, sounded pained.

I can understand that. It could have been a servant who had just arrived and stumbled upon the scene.

The problem was the reaction of the 10th Army commander.

"Huh...!"

Reflexively, Hien's head snapped up.

Did I hear him wrong? The look on his face is too blatant to be a misunderstanding.

A look of near awe. At the look of fear and even awe, Hien involuntarily turned her head to follow his gaze,

I could see one "human".

A skinny figure that looks more like a weakling than a normal person. Strange white hair and red eyes. And pale skin. If it weren't for the almost imperceptible magic, you'd never recognize him as human.

'...Come to think of it.'

Some time ago, a storm of rumors began to swirl around the city of Demon King. It was probably near the end of the War of the Champions.

[Someone other than the devil killed the warrior].

[He tried to recruit me right then and there].

[He's even human].

"It's him.

The man of the hour, the one you thought was just a rumor. It was him, your gut was screaming.

It was the words and actions of the 10th Corps commander that drove the wedge.

"This has... somehow...."

"I heard you had a gardener, so I came to see him... but I must have timed it wrong."

"Oh, no."

If you're being treated with respect by someone who's a legionnaire, that means you're stronger or more powerful than him.

In hindsight, I thought I had heard a rumor that he had been offered the position of 0th Corps Commander.

The Tenth Corps commander, who had been shaking my hand, hastily retreated to speak with me at his leisure, and then picked up where he left off and approached me.

You say you've come to see me. I'm curious about the purpose, but I don't expect much.

"That's because I'm an incubus.

Even worse, my opponent is a 0th Legionnaire. What are the odds he'll be nice to me?

─I certainly thought so.