“Wow.”
After the conversation with Nord, Shekina returned to her room, shaking her head with a laugh as if in disbelief.
– Because they are practically the ones responsible for making the monsters run rampant.
– Right now, the Demon King doesn’t know about it, but the moment he enters the Demon Realm, he will find out immediately.
– Once the Demon King finds out, they will be as good as dead… So why would they willingly return to the Demon Realm?
In other words, the reason the Demon Realm has gone mad due to the rampaging monsters is because of the elders.
“Seriously, they’re insane.”
Shekina muttered this, feeling it was the most natural reaction.
The demon clans who suffered because of the rampaging monsters were all around.
If other demons found out about this…
‘They wouldn’t survive quietly.’
Shekina sighed, crossing her arms. She recalled the conversation she had with Nord again.
When she asked why they didn’t reveal the truth, he said:
– If this fact becomes known…
– Do you think the demon clans will stay still? They will do whatever it takes to kill the elders.
– If that happens, the current system will collapse. As you know, the hierarchy among demons must be clear. …It can’t be helped. We have to keep it quiet.
Nonsense.
If they want to talk about maintaining a hierarchical society, the ones at the top should have done their jobs well. Whatever their reasons, it’s unfair that they unleashed the monsters and turned the Demon Realm into chaos without taking responsibility.
“How should I use this…”
Shekina blinked her big eyes, deep in thought.
At that moment…
“Ladyyy Shekinaaa!”
A familiar voice was heard.
“Wow, seriously. It’s obvious they sent us out because Shekina is coming. Is Lyat crazy?”
“It’s not Lyat; it’s the advisor. If you get caught, you’ll lose your head.”
“Yeah, I don’t die even if my head gets cut off, right?”
It was the 1st Legion demons.
Shekina had barely been with them for five seconds before she started feeling noisy and tired, taking a deep breath.
“Hey. Long time no see.”
“Can you just call it ‘long time’? Does that even make sense?”
“It felt like a thousand years. No objections.”
“Come on, let me see. Let me see your face!”
They ran up to her, grabbing Shekina’s cheeks and turning her head back and forth.
“Look at this. It hasn’t even been a month, but her face looks so gaunt. What was the vice-commander doing, not taking care of Shekina?”
“The vice-commander is a jerk!”
“Kill him! Kill him right away!”
If Arthur had heard this, he might have collapsed, clutching the back of his neck… Shekina sniffed, and then flicked away the demon’s hand holding her cheeks.
“Stop it.”
She said firmly.
“I know it’s nice to see me after a long time, but can’t you do it a little more moderately?”
The demons blinked their eyes wide and tilted their heads.
“We’re already being moderate right now.”
“Yeah, this is pretty tame.”
“You’re saying this because you don’t know how much we struggled over at the snowy mountain, Shekina…!”
“Mean! So mean!”
Aren’t you demons who have lived for hundreds of years?
Your mental age seems lower than Merdes. Are you even sane?
“Fine, fine. Just sit down. Yeah, good, good.”
Shekina patted them, thinking their mindset was the same as Merdes’. The demons, on the other hand, had slightly embarrassed looks on their faces.
“Why do I feel like we’re the children here?”
“Yeah, we’re still kids, right?”
“Be quiet, please.”
They pouted but soon sat down on the sofa opposite Shekina. Then, they leaned forward to get closer, making eye contact with Shekina.
“Did you come back from meeting the First Elder?”
“Huh? How did you know?”
Shekina didn’t realize that the demons had searched the Demon King’s castle thoroughly to find her. The demons pretended not to know that they had grabbed people by the collar and demanded to know her whereabouts.
“Well, there’s a way to find out everything, right?”
“What did you do, meeting that sly bastard?”
“Nothing much. I just asked about the elders.”
“Oh.”
As soon as they heard Shekina’s answer, the demons’ expressions turned grim.
“What did those bastards do again?”
“We should have crushed them properly back then…”
“Yeah, I said to kill them, but it’s your fault for not doing it, right?”
…What is this nonsense?
For a moment, Shekina felt dazed and narrowed her eyes.
“What did you guys do?”
“No? We didn’t do anything.”
“We behaved! Seriously, we behaved ourselves!”
“…Sounds like a lie.”
As hard as it was to believe… well, what could she do. Shekina muttered ‘I don’t know’ under her breath and stared at them.
“By the way, why are they bothering you?”
“They’re getting on my nerves, so I was wondering if there’s a way to quiet them down.”
“Ah.”
The demons exchanged glances, nodding as if they understood what Shekina meant.
“Black Spinel.”
Then, one of them casually mentioned.
“They’re looking for it.”
What?
“Yeah. When we were beating up the elders’ subordinates, they said that. ‘Have you guys also come to get Black Spinel?’ they asked. We’re strong even without that stuff, right?”
Shekina’s mind started working rapidly.
Black Spinel.
She had just told Nord to create a connection channel so she could find this.
“Well done.”
Originally, she was planning to scatter a small amount of Black Spinel to coax them…
‘No need to sprinkle it when they’re already desperately searching for it.’
Shekina grinned wickedly, chuckling darkly.
“What should be the starting bid for the auction?”
They were doomed.
***
“Um… uh… hmm…”
Yuriel rolled his eyes and clasped his hands tightly. He pressed closer to Dehan, who was sitting next to him. Being this close was the only way he could feel a bit more at ease.
He couldn’t help it.
Sitting across from Yuriel and Dehan were…
“Why can’t you speak?”
“Are you unwell?”
Lyat, who always had sharp eyes that could be chilling no matter how many times you met him, and…
A giant named Martin, whom they had never seen before.
Lyat was intimidating enough, but Martin’s presence was overwhelming in a way that was hard to describe. Not only was he huge, but his face! Yes, that face was truly terrifying! How could someone look so scary? It’s frightening!
Yuriel suppressed the urge to jump up and run away as he took a deep breath.
“I-I can talk, b-but this situation is just so… intimidating.”
“What’s so intimidating about it?”
Lyat narrowed his eyes and stared at Yuriel.
“Just speak clearly. You want us to take you in because you have nowhere else to go, correct?”
“Well, um…”
“Of course, there will be a price to pay for that. Right, Martin?”
“Absolutely.”
But that’s the scary part!
Maybe they should just leave now?
I mean, if it’s just about taking care of Dehan and myself, we could find some simple work in a remote village and live there, right?
Yuriel’s eyes started darting around in panic.
“We can pay whatever the price is.”
At that moment, Dehan, who had been sitting quietly, finally spoke.
“But that price shouldn’t be excessive compared to the glory we will bring you in the future.”
Lyat’s gaze shifted to Dehan.
It was hard to guess a human’s age accurately, but…
Judging roughly, he seemed to be around the same age as the twin homunculus. But his mature attitude was somewhat suspicious.
“Did you say ‘glory’?”
“Yes.”
Dehan nodded and continued.
“Priest Yuriel possesses divine power comparable to that of a high priest. If he continues his training, he will undoubtedly become an extraordinary being, no less than any high priest. Accepting priest Yuriel into your count’s household would be a wise decision in many ways.”
As expected. That’s not the kind of response a child would give.
Lyat did not take his suspicious gaze off Dehan.
“And what about you? What can you do?”
“……I.”
Dehan took a moment to catch his breath before speaking again.
“I lack divine power, and I can’t say my swordsmanship is remarkable either.”
“Indeed. That’s how it appears.”
“But.”
Dehan placed his hand over his chest.
“I have sworn to devote my life to Lady Shekina.”
And he thought of Shekina.
For reasons he couldn’t understand, thinking about her made his heart ache. And it strengthened his resolve. To protect her. This time, for sure…
Dehan’s eyes gleamed.
“Isn’t there a need for someone who would protect Lady Shekina, even if it means dying?”
“You…!”
“D-Dehan!”
At that moment, Lyat was taken aback, and Yuriel lost his composure as they both spoke out simultaneously.
Bang!
The door to the drawing room, which had been closed the whole time, suddenly burst open.
“What are you all doing?!”
Shekina, who had rushed over after hearing that Dehan and Yuriel had been called by Lyat, shouted.
“Why are you saying weird things to this kids?! Want to get in trouble?”
Wait, I wasn’t the one saying weird things, it was them…
Lyat felt a bit wronged.
