Chapter 2: The Demon King’s Strongest Hand (2)

I was finally able to grasp the situation.

This weak body of mine! Of all places, to vomit blood here! Damn it!

I saw the blood-stained papers. Even the Demon King was drenched in my blood… Oh my god.

‘What a shitty life.’

Thinking this to myself, I quickly covered my mouth and backed away from the desk.

The papers were already stained, and the Demon King’s hands were covered in my blood. As expected, I heard him clench his teeth, as if he was angry.

Swallowing the screams that were about to erupt out of my throat as the killing intent pierced my entire body, I opened my mouth.

”I’m sorry. The papers…”

“That doesn’t matter right now! Doctor! Call the Zero Corps Commander’s doctor!! What is he doing when the patient is so sick?!”

…Huh?

My mind froze due to the unexpected situation.

A few minutes later, I could barely come up with another explanation.

Oh, so he is mad at the doctor.

Maybe that’s it, I caused this accident because I was sick. That means the doctor failed to do his job properly, and as a result, the doctor was to blame for this accident.

So instead of blaming me, he’ll blame the doctor, right?

If so, where would the doctor’s resentment, who was blamed out of nowhere, go?

This is the Demon Castle. Remembering that the doctor was also a demon, I slumped in my seat with a bitter expression.

‘Dammit, it’s over.’

…

“What is he doing when the patient is so sick?! Huh?!”

The overwhelming magic power swept through the entire castle.

It was obvious who the source of this dense and heavy magic power was. Ben, the doctor, hurriedly packed his medical bag for remote visits and prepared to die today.

Of course, the Demon King’s only concern was the patient I was in charge of, the proud Commander of the Zero Corps, Demon Arut.

As expected, when I arrived at the Demon King’s office, I saw Sir Demon sitting on the bare floor with his mouth covered. Blood dripped down his hand.

As a result, the carpet in the office was ruined, but since the Demon King didn’t seem to mind, I didn’t mind either and approached him.

He didn’t want to get up, probably because his legs were weak. I hurriedly helped him and sat him down on the sofa, blaming myself.

The patient was ill, and I was unable to arrive quickly, which disqualified me from being a doctor. There will be nothing I can say if Sir Demon gets angry and even snaps my neck.

But before that, I’ll have to start with the treatment.

First, I stretched out three fingers.  

To first check if he was conscious.  

“Sir Demon, can you hear me? How many do you see here?”  

“Three.”  

Consciousness normal, vision normal.

Everyone in the Demon Castle knew why Demon Aurth was like this, how could they not not know?  

Because everyone had seen it clearly.  

The scene of him holding back the Hero, who was about to self-destruct, with nothing but his mortal body.

Not to mention the scene where the Hero died with just a small move from him.

It was only natural that his body would be damaged since he took the force of the Hero’s self-destruction all by himself.

So, who could look down on him?  

‘No way.’

A weak body and combat ability are two different things. I’m not sure if anyone else has mentioned it, but this person was special. 

I could definitely take this life right now if I really wanted to. But then I wouldn’t even realize I was dead until it was too late.

Even though he was spewing blood at the time, it didn’t appear that way when looking into his vividly alive eyes.

Red eyes that make you question whether that is what happens when fresh blood forms a circle. The eyes, which stood out even more due to his white hair, carried a clear ‘murderous’ intent.

Something that can only happen after killing countless people and witnessing countless deaths. How could I possibly look down on him?

Suppressing his fear and awe, Ben calmly opened his mouth.

“…As you might have guessed, this is an aftereffect.”

As if he had expected it, resignation flashed across the Demon King’s face. He also shut his mouth for a moment in bitterness. However, it was different for the person in question, Demon Aurth.

A look of indifference. No, that’s definitely a feb-up look.

He had heard it so many times that he had gotten fed-up with it.

As he was saying something, out of nowhere he put the handkerchief he had received from the Demon King over his mouth and buried himself deeply in the sofa.

His resignation, or lack of concern, left Ben and even the Demon King speechless.

‘How can he be so resolute?’

If it had been any other Corps Commander, it would have happened long ago, even if it was a mess.  

Whether it be drawing a sword, swinging a fist, or sitting and threatening silently. With their deadly eyes gleaming brightly, they would have ordered me to fix it in any way possible.

Isn’t that what he’s supposed to do?  

After all, that’s the reason for my existence.

As soon as I thought about it, I felt like I was going to sigh. A sigh of relief, not frustration or anger.  

Subconsciously, Ben thought he was really lucky to be the doctor of the Zero Corps Commander.  

‘No, this isn’t the time for such thoughts.’  

He instantly shook off his thoughts and, after collecting his emotions, rummaged through his medical bag.

“As always, this is a medicine that helps internal injury. I’m sorry that this is all I can do for you.”  

“Thank you.”  

Ben carefully opened and closed his eyes after confirming that Sir Demon accepted and even drank the medicine bottle.

And now that I’m done with my work, the inevitable time has come.  

From the moment I arrived here, the Demon King had been exuding an aura that said ‘I’ll deal with you later’. 

Knowing well that the price of neglect was death, I carefully stood up from my seat and faced the Demon King.  

I don’t have any particular complaints. It’s not even unfair. It’s obviously my fault that I couldn’t respond quickly to the patient’s abnormalities.  

Perhaps Sir Demon, too, would be angry, no, even if he wasn’t angry, at least he would not be pleased.

That’s why I was prepared to face the Demon King’s wrath and then, if I’m still alive, to endure Sir Demon’s wrath. 

…Huh?  

***  

The Demon King is going to kill the doctor!

I jumped out of my seat reflexively and grabbed Ben by the wrist.  

Ben looked at me with his big eyes as if he was surprised. Likewise, the Demon King was also looking at me with his eyes wide open.  

They’re surprised? I’m surprised, too. But I couldn’t help it.  

Wouldn’t all the resentment be directed at me if I left my doctor like this? No matter how moderate Ben is, he will naturally be angry if he is accused of something that wasn’t his fault.  

By then, it would be too late.

I have to stop it in order to live!  

With such determination, I first said to the Demon King who still didn’t speak.

“I’m not feeling well, so I’m leaving. Of course, my doctor is coming with me. It’s a pity, but we’ll have to postpone the matter of my resignation for later.”

“Oh, huh? Resignation…? No, I got it. Hurry up and go rest.”  

Maybe he won’t want to talk about the resignation letter later, but there’s nothing I can do.

I’ll be sure to tell him next time! Firstly, the timing was bad today, so I made a note to myself and walked out of the office with great strides.

I had no idea how long I walked for.

But when I stopped, I was already standing in the middle of a fairly long hallway.

There wasn’t just one or two hallways, so I peeked out of the window to find out where it was.  

As if there was no sun, I could see the garden with the curtain of moon light descending from the window of the corridor. Instead of the sun, three moons that took its place were softly illuminating the garden.

You might think the scenery here was beautiful, but take a look over there. What kinds of flowers have teeth? Is it a carnivorous plant? The one next to it even has eyeballs, and it’s even blinking!

I shuddered with disgust, but then I heard a faint voice beside me.

“Umm, Sir Demon…”

“Hmm? …Ah.”  

Come to think of it, I was still holding onto his wrist. I was so distracted that I didn’t even realize it.  

I let go of his hand and secretly glanced at Ben’s face. He’s not offended, is he?  

Fortunately, there was no sign of displeasure on his face. Instead, what caught my eye was a complexion as pale as mine.  

No wonder he seems to be restless….  

“Are you sick or something?”

“No, I’m just….”

The feeling of resignation flashed on his face.  

He let out a small sigh and looked at me with nervousness, as if he was really sick.  

Ben bit his pale lips, as if preparing for something, and then bent down.

“It might be presumptuous, but please kill me as painlessly as possible!”  

“What?”  

I lost control of my facial expression for a brief moment. Perhaps the sense of absurdity was on my face by now. A stunned voice was an added bonus.

I’m glad he was bent over. Seeing that there was no movement, it seems that he did not hear my voice either.

I quickly managed my facial expression and cleared my throat.  

I can’t openly ask what kind of nonsense it was, so I’ll change my words a bit…

“What do you mean?”

“Oh… no, it slipped out of my mouth. I apologize!”

I asked as lightly as I could, but he still freaked out.

Was he really sick? People say you can’t cut your own hair, but what happens when a doctor is sick?

And that doctor was my personal doctor.  

I sighed, worried that I might have entrust my body to another patient, and said, 

“I won’t kill you.“  

Whatever it was, if it doesn’t kill me. I won’t kill it.  

And if I had the ability to kill demons, I would have given up my role as a Corps Commander and escaped long ago, why would I be still living in this place?

As I realized it again, I could only sigh at my pitiful situation. 

Feeling depressed, I walked towards my room, leaving Ben bewildered behind me.

***

Contrary to his appearance, I know that Sir Demon is the kindest among all the Corps Commanders. But I didn’t expect him to cover for even those who couldn’t fulfill their duties.  

No, he doesn’t seem to think I failed to fulfill my duty in the first place.  

Perhaps it’s because he’s of human origin, and his thoughts differ from us demons, so I’m unable to understand his standards.

But how humiliating it must have been for him when I asked him to kill me as painlessly as possible. For even a person who usually speaks formally to go, “What?” and speak informally.  

There is, however, a reason for such an illusion. The other Commanders, even if they had saved me, the reason would have been “I need to kill him myself to relieve my anger.”

Anyway, I wish I had stopped talking there sooner. Unfortunately, I begged for forgiveness, my words had made him very uncomfortable. I put a burden on him.  

Sir Demon said with a faint sigh and a slap to the back of the head, without a hint of anger.

[I won’t kill you.]  

To be honest, it was a little too shocking. Wasn’t that being too forgiving?

I’ve always been proud to be his personal doctor, but I’ve never been as proud as I am today. Maybe today I’ll grab a bottle of alcohol and pay a visit to the quarter of the Corps Commanders’ personal doctors.

The scene where they had to deal with ill-tempered Corps Commanders and grabbed me from the back in envy was already floating in my eyes.

Of course there’s work to be done before that.  

‘So that the same thing doesn’t happen again….’  

Ben’s eyes shone slightly as he recalled the pitiful sight of his patient, Demon Arut, dripping with blood.