Chapter 63 - Responsibility
"Damon?"
Athanasia, who had received a scolding-like rebuke from Clay for causing a fuss, was given the task of interrogating Damon, whom Beatrice had brought.
"You're a Heavenly King, right? How are you still alive?"
Damon, who was being questioned as soon as he regained consciousness, opened his mouth while sitting on the bare floor of an empty room.
"I do not die."
"What, are you an ancient god or something?"
"To be precise, death is meaningless to me because I am already a corpse."
At that, Athanasia tilted her head.
"What does that mean?"
As she turned her eyes to the side, Selimiah came into her view.
"Are you asking me that now?"
"Yeah."
"How would I know?"
Selimiah just frowned as if she didn't like the situation.
"I don't understand why Clay-nim only took that woman. It's clear that she has impure intentions."
"Don't you have bigger impure intentions? Honestly, if you hadn't caused a fuss, I don't think Clay would have stopped me from following him."
Glare.
Athanasia, who received Selimiah's angry glare, clicked her tongue and looked back at Damon.
"Hey, Daylong or whatever."
"It's Damon."
"Anyway, Clay said he wanted me to find the successor to a Heavenly King, but you're the predecessor, right? Where is your successor?"
"Dead."
Damon replied in a low voice.
"They are not as free from death as I am."
"Hmm."
In the end, it meant there was no successor.
"Then you'll have to keep being a Heavenly King. Where are you from? The South? The East?"
Barungania was located to the west of the center of the Demon Realm. Excluding the central area, where Beatrice was from, and the north, where Geshkapo was active, the only remaining regions were the South and the East.
"I came from the southern graveyard."
"Just say 'the South.'"
Athanasia couldn't help but frown since she was already displeased with the smell of corpses, and he was now spewing out the word "graveyard."
"And I am enough to raise an army of the dead, so you should find another role."
"…Is that also a right of the one who got here first?"
Damon sneered, holding out his bony, branch-like fingers. At that, Athanasia looked down at Damon with a strange glint in her eyes.
"It's not about being first; it's my original divine power. You guys are just imitations."
As a strong pressure weighed down the air around them, Selimiah said with an annoyed expression,
"Clay-nim said he'd just pick the predecessor as a Heavenly King if there was no successor, didn't he? Stop talking about decaying things and do what's necessary. That way you can go back to Clay-nim."
"How impertinent."
Athanasia turned her upper body away with an irritated expression, then sighed and closed her eyes.
"Still, if I fight with you, Clay will probably scold me again."
Athanasia, maintaining her composure, grabbed Damon.
"Get up."
"?"
Athanasia shook the bewildered Damon a few times.
"He's completely like a piece of paper."
Athanasia couldn't hide her bewilderment after checking Damon's body, which was as light as if it were only bones with flesh attached.
"Well, anyway, I still have to interrogate him."
"Interrogate? With what?"
In front of Damon, who was questioning what kind of interrogation she would conduct with this useless conversation, new people appeared.
Thud!
"We're here~!"
A small woman with her hair tied in a single braid raised both her arms and entered the room. Following her was a monstrous creature.
"Lyn? Golche, too…!"
Damon, who had shown no particular reaction until now, turned pale as soon as he saw them.
"Why? Do you know them?"
Athanasia smiled mockingly. Being here, she had come to realize how eccentric Lyn and Golche were.
No, they weren't just eccentric; they were mad scientists. If they had a test subject, they wouldn't stop tearing skin, cutting bones, and stitching them back together, day and night.
As a Heavenly King, Damon couldn't have been unaware of their ill repute.
After all,
"They were clearly banished to some remote post…!"
Because they had conducted so many experiments to their liking, even the former Demon King had sent them away.
Athanasia, who had heard that story directly from them, couldn't suppress her laughter upon seeing Damon's reaction.
'A lot of weirdos appeared while I was asleep.'
Besides being entertaining, those two had special abilities they didn't even know they possessed.
That was their interrogation ability.
"Lyn, Golche."
Athanasia requested them, with whom she had made a connection since coming to this castle.
"This Heavenly King was caught hiding in a graveyard, so could you check if he's willing to work well?"
"Well, that's not too difficult~."
Lyn muttered, looking at Damon, who was being held by Athanasia.
"He's much skinnier than before, isn't he? If he's going to properly serve his purpose, he'll need a physical improvement."
"I agree."
Seeing Golche come over and second the opinion, Damon suddenly started to struggle.
"Wa-wait! You need the Demon King's permission to lay a hand on a Heavenly King!"
"He gave us permission."
"What?"
"We got permission."
Lyn smiled slightly.
"This Demon King is quite lenient with us."
"Y-you're not…"
CRASH!
Just then.
A huge demon in red full-body armor came inside. Damon's eyes widened at the sight of the demon with two threatening horns protruding from its head.
"Wh-what is that?!"
He wasn't wearing armor. He had undergone so much body modification that he just looked that way.
"Ah."
The huge demon, Geshkapo, found Lyn and Golche and let out a sigh.
"Why are you here…?"
"Geshkapo. Do you want to be 'improved' some more?"
At Lyn's question, Geshkapo shook his head furiously.
"N-no! I just came here to find a place to rest! I was looking for a place where you weren't…!"
"Just wait a moment. We have a new test subject."
"I-I'm leaving!"
Geshkapo hurried out of the room. Damon thrashed wildly, but he couldn't escape Athanasia's grasp.
"Lyn."
Athanasia smiled broadly and said to her.
"I'll leave him to you. Please also check if he's a good fit for Clay."
"Don't worry."
Lyn nodded with clear eyes.
"After a little body improvement, everyone starts to speak their honest thoughts. And they even feel grateful for it, you know."
"No!"
"Let us begin with restraining him."
Seeing Golche bring over some clanking restraints, Damon kept yelling something.
Watching the scene, Selimiah sighed and propped her chin up.
"What on earth were those marshmallows that woman gave Clay-nim? I need to figure out what they were…"
The empty room was thus filled with a noisy atmosphere.
"A lot of things have happened while I was away."
In the Demon King's office.
Beatrice, sitting across from Clay, narrowed her eyes.
"An ancient god and a northern menace. I thought I only sent you Geshkapo."
Beatrice's gaze turned to the demonic sword lying in the corner of the office.
"Didn't Siltnaro say anything?"
Clink.
Siltnaro, in his sword form, trembled as if he had been caught.
"Not really, nothing at all."
"I figured."
Beatrice sighed at Clay's words.
"Even Siltnaro hasn't met many beings like that, has he? He probably thought it was more beneficial to stay quietly by your side than to get into a dangerous confrontation."
"…Hmm."
"So, have you sorted things out?"
At Beatrice's question, Clay looked puzzled.
"Sorted out what?"
"Who your top priority is."
Clay flinched.
"Top priority? I haven't really thought about that…"
"What a disappointment."
Beatrice shrugged.
"To say that after you received marshmallows."
"I don't think those things are related."
"Have you already forgotten everything after becoming the Demon King?"
She tapped her own leg.
"I don't know what happened to the person who used to lie on my lap, saying he was lonely."
"Beatrice."
Clay wore a troubled expression.
"If there's something you're uncomfortable with, just tell me. I'll sort it out."
"Are you asking me to say it myself?"
Beatrice, who had been quietly staring at Clay, let out a small laugh.
"You've become a good face to look at."
She took a long breath, looking at the flustered Clay.
"I understand the responsibility of becoming the Demon King, but you can't live as if you've lost all emotions. Even if not as much as you showed me at first, I wish you would sometimes express yourself more comfortably."
"…Alright."
Clay replied slowly, looking a little more relaxed.
"Well, we can talk about this later. For now, should I tell you about the person I brought?"
Beatrice informed him that the person she brought was a Heavenly King named Damon. His rank was the third among the Heavenly Kings.
"He is someone who can create undead and is also skilled at using poison."
"He will be a great help in increasing our army."
Athanasia could also raise the dead, but it wasn't very practical since it consumed her power.
On the other hand, if Damon created complete undead, they would accumulate their own life force and could be included in the regular army.
"You've done a great job."
"Your order was to find a successor, but I couldn't do that, could I? I only managed to find one of the old Heavenly Kings."
"Still, he's a big help."
At Clay's words, Beatrice was silent for a moment before speaking again.
"Clay."
She mentioned his plan, which she had learned about since arriving at Barungania.
"You're planning to attack Yafenon, aren't you?"
That was tantamount to declaring war on the Holy Kingdom Alliance.
"You haven't even unified the Demon Realm yet. Is it really okay to attack Yafenon?"
"If I try to unify it first, it will take too much time."
However, Clay emphasized that they could unify much faster by creating an external enemy.
"I'm going to show the demons who their focal point is."
"In the meantime, there will be no shortage of people who will find out about Barungania and attack."
"I plan to defend against that using Selimiah."
He planned to have Selimiah create a snow mountain and surround Barungania with an ice moat to fortify it.
"You are the temporary supreme commander of this place."
Clay pointed at Beatrice.
"I am entrusting you with the defense of this place while I am gone."
"I just got back, and we're going to be separated again?"
"Right now, there's no one I can trust to that extent besides you."
Beatrice was the only one who could handle all that properly at the moment.
"I'll find a suitable manager soon and appoint them as the supreme commander of Barungania."
"I hope you don't put me in charge of that too."
Seeing the pouting Beatrice, Clay held out his hand.
"Beatrice. This is a matter of trust."
It was what he considered most important.
"You really do nothing but cheat."
Beatrice said, grabbing his hand.
"Go and do well."
Finally, it was time for the Demon King to go outside.