Hero, Meeting, and…(3)
The confusion was brief. The generals quickly calmed their hearts and stood up in unison.
Soon, the door opened, and the Demon King entered with the 0th Corps Commander, Daemon.
Idelia subtly glanced at Velitan's expression.
As expected, his face was twisted with displeasure. Honestly, it was satisfying. Who told him to foolishly mess with Daemon? He was the most respected figure in the Demon King's castle, second only to the Demon King himself.
Seated leisurely on the most luxurious chair, the Demon King crossed his legs and waved his hand lightly.
"Everyone, sit."
Once again, the room moved with perfect coordination.
The Demon King looked around at those seated and gave a faint smile toward Daon, who sat closest to him.
"As you may know, there was an intruder. The 0th Corps Commander here handled it brilliantly."
All eyes turned toward Daon.
Each person here was capable in their own right, so the stares could have been burdensome, yet he simply lowered his eyes and fidgeted with a cube.
…A cube?
Glances began flying rapidly between the commanders.
'Hey, that's…'
'Yeah, looks like he's really interested in this case.'
'Which means we'll get a solid outcome…'
'But it might be dangerous, so we should be cautious.'
Whenever there was a meeting during wartime, he would sit and listen to everyone's opinions while turning his cube.
If he agreed with a suggestion, the cube would spin smoothly and fall into place. But if he didn't like it, it would spin roughly, its clicking sounds loud enough to fill the entire tent.
Whether it spun roughly or smoothly, the best conclusion always followed once the cube was solved. The problem was, when it spun roughly—something serious always happened.
A subtle tension hung in the air as the Demon King continued speaking.
"According to the investigation, this wasn't just any intruder. Of course, given that they managed to get into the inner sanctum of the Demon King's castle, it couldn't have been ordinary—but this case was especially unique."
A hint of hostility colored the Demon King's gaze as it swept across those seated.
Though his eyes seemed to look at the corps commanders, it felt like he was staring at someone beyond them. Even a trace of murderous intent flickered in his voice.
"It was the remains of a Hero."
"…Are you saying, a Hero?"
"Yes. One of the few the Empire desperately sought to gather, sent here as a sacrificial lamb."
Thud!
A heavy sound echoed. None of the corps commanders looked up to find the source of the noise.
It was obvious without looking.
The Demon King leaned forward, his tightly clenched fist resting on the armrest.
A crushing pressure swept through the conference room.
"What could their purpose be?"
"…"
"The Empire's movements are suspicious. And recently, we've lost contact with the 9th Corps Commander stationed at the front. Something's definitely wrong."
The Demon King was strong.
So strong, he rarely needed to use his brain. His decisions were always simple, but each one carried immense weight.
This time was no different.
"1st Corps Commander."
"Yes."
"You go."
He was planning a full-scale war.
Jaekar was the Demon King's proxy. There wasn't a single fool in this room who didn't understand what it meant for him to be sent directly.
Jaekar hesitated for a moment, then looked up at the Demon King with only his eyes, his head still bowed.
Only for a moment. Without objection, he lowered his gaze again and replied calmly.
"Yes."
A faint tension of war began to stir in the room.
There wasn't a battle happening just yet—but the heavy atmosphere made it feel like it could break out any moment. As if to lighten the mood, the Demon King clapped his hands together.
The silence broke, and a much lighter tone followed.
"Now, with that roughly settled, there's something we need to address before moving on to the next issue."
"…?"
"What kind of reward should we give the 0th Corps Commander who captured the remains of a Hero—alone?"
The hand spinning the cube came to a halt.
The red eyes, which hadn't once lifted from the table throughout the meeting, slowly rose to meet the Demon King's.
Staring directly into those red eyes, the Demon King gave a small, amused smile.
"Letting the person in question decide might not be a bad idea."
I hate the Corps Commanders' meetings. I hate them so much. There's no need to explain why.
Because they're terrifying!
The exclusive dining hall for corps commanders is at least bearable since not everyone shows up to eat. But the meeting room? Almost everyone attends. That alone makes it horrifying.
'I don't want to go…'
I'm always late because I drag my feet, not wanting to go. If the Demon King hadn't come to fetch me himself, I would've been late again this time.
Oh… maybe I already am late?
I nervously wiped my sweaty palms on my clothes—then froze. What's this?
A cube?
A cube? Sure, I usually bring one to meetings, but only when I'm the one leading them.
Meetings go just fine without me. I bring the cube mostly to avoid eye contact and kill time, because if someone happens to ask my opinion, things get awkward…
But the meeting I'm headed to now is led by the Demon King!
Why didn't he point this out?
I want to go back and put it away, but it's far too late for that now.
"The Demon King and the 0th Corps Commander have arrived."
With a grand and solemn voice, the doors to the meeting room opened.
I stepped in nervously, like a cow being led to slaughter.
And not long after the meeting began, my thoughts on the cube completely changed.
'Thank goodness I brought it.'
I would've been so awkward without it.
The atmosphere is tense, no one is looking at me—it's a perfect environment for fiddling with a cube.
So I kept mixing a new cube, solving half of it, scrambling it again, and repeating, when suddenly the Demon King made an unexpected announcement.
"Now, that wraps up this matter. Before we move on to the next issue, there's something we need to address."
At that point, I still thought it had nothing to do with me.
"What kind of reward should we give the 0th Corps Commander, who captured the remains of a Hero all by himself?"
Startled, I jerked my head up.
It was too clear that the Demon King's gaze was pointed directly at me to pretend I misheard.
To make it worse, he added firmly:
"Letting the person in question decide might not be a bad idea."
A different kind of silence fell over the room.
When I didn't speak, the other corps commanders stayed quiet too, watching me and the Demon King closely. The Demon King leaned on his hand and looked at me as if to say, "Well? Get on with it."
In the silence, my eyes darted around.
'So… I'm supposed to say what I want?'
There really isn't much I want. From the Demon King's point of view, my requests would be easy to grant…
"Resig—"
"No."
"Then… alcohol—"
"Are you serious?"
"..."
"..."
…I thought I didn't want anything.
He shut me down so flatly, yet his expression didn't change a bit.
Still smiling softly, the Demon King waited for my next words.
His gaze, never leaving me, was overwhelming. I just wanted to say something to end this quickly…
But truthfully, there was nothing I particularly wanted.
"…Then, may I postpone it until later, since I have no requests at the moment?"
"What are you planning to ask for? I'm already scared."
With a light chuckle, he removed his hand from his chin and straightened up.
His gaze swept across the corps commanders and landed on Velitan.
Sensing instinctively that the next topic was about to begin, the other commanders straightened their backs. As the tension in the room tightened again, I couldn't raise or lower my eyes. I just kept fiddling with the cube beneath the table, relying solely on touch.
Whatever the next issue was, it had nothing to do with me.
"6th Corps Commander, I heard you had something to say about the monsters?"
"Yes, I would like to request reinforcements."
"Hmm…"
The Demon King, flipping through the report, pulled out a single document. At first, his expression was indifferent, but the more he read, the more his face twisted with tension.
At last, after reading the final line, he let out a quiet groan and spoke.
"This is indeed serious. Are you saying you and the 12th Corps Commander alone aren't enough?"
"The 12th Corps currently has no capacity to go out and hunt monsters."
The Demon King's movement suddenly halted. His gaze, previously fixed on the document, lifted sharply to stare at Velitan.
There was not even the slightest tremor in his eyes—no, it would be more accurate to say they were frozen solid. I found myself nodding inwardly.
Of course he's shocked. Who wouldn't be? I was surprised too.
What else could those words mean? That the corps had suffered so much damage they couldn't even go monster hunting. And clearly, the cause was the monsters.
"Then the 12th Corps Commander's absence is because…?"
"I heard he's recovering from injuries."
"From mere monsters?"
"Watch your words. Even insignificant beasts can become a serious threat in large numbers."
Low murmurs began to circulate among the corps commanders.
It was understandable. The idea that the 12th Corps had been brought down by mere monsters—
Mere monsters. Known in the Empire as "failures" or "monsters."
The Demon King's power, even when unintentional, constantly gave birth to new demons. This was what made him such a threat, and the key reason why the Empire—and humanity as a whole—sought desperately to eliminate him.
But creating life was no simple feat.
Only about 40% of the beings born this way could be called true "demons," beings with intelligence and will. The remaining 60% were pathetic creatures, too mindless to even be considered demons, driven only by base instinct.
They were complete failures—so wild they would even attack demons. The Demon King dubbed them "monsters" and periodically purged them for the safety of his people.
Everything's coming back so easily. Have I been here too long?
How long had it been since I last saw sunlight?
A wave of sorrow washed over me, and I stared bitterly at the innocent desk in front of me.
Just then, the Demon King's voice resumed, calm and composed—more so than usual, even though I had expected him to waver.
"There's only so much a report can tell me. Explain it directly."
"At some point, the monsters' numbers suddenly surged. By the time we realized and tried to respond, half the small villages had already been destroyed."
"Half, you say… And the remaining half?"
"They were evacuated to large cities with walls."
Velitan… I thought he was just muscle, but he's surprisingly sharp?
I silently apologized for underestimating him and turned my full attention to his explanation.
"The real problem is that there are so many monsters now, they're even trying to scale the walls. It's like fighting a war every day."
"…We'll have to start stationing corps commanders in major cities from now on."
"But why has their number increased so drastically, all of a sudden…?"
His words trailed off into a near-sigh, a lament more than a question.
Resting his chin casually on his laced fingers, the Demon King answered nonchalantly.
"The hero died. The balance has been broken."
As he said this, he glanced at me.
Why's he looking at me? I didn't do it! You're the one who pushed the hero to his death in the first place!
But I didn't have the nerve to meet that gaze, so I quietly looked away. As I did, the Demon King, now rifling through another document, muttered as if to himself.
"There are four major cities… and with the 12th Corps incapacitated, it really would be difficult to defend them all."
"Yes, I formally request reinforcements."
"Let's see… who's even available…"
A shiver ran down my spine. I quickly looked down, hoping to hide my trembling eyes.
Only then did I notice the cube under the desk spinning wildly.
I didn't even know my hands could move this fast, like they were possessed.
Click, click, click—
Why was I so nervous? Isn't it obvious?
When someone says "spare manpower," who do they think of first? Me. The most useless of all the corps commanders, who doesn't even handle paperwork! All I ever do is burn gardens and flip over lunch trays…
"Demon, I think you should go."
…Click.
My hands stopped. So did my breathing.
Wait—no, I need to breathe!
I could almost see someone waving at me from across the River Styx.
I rushed to fill my lungs with air, and my brain finally started working again. Unfortunately, it worked too well.
Gripping the completed cube in both hands, I silently screamed.
I knew it! Damn it aaaaaaall!!