"Oh my? But why are you grabbing me by the collar? It's not even my fault."
"Fuck. This won't work. It's too much for our corps alone."
"A Corps Commander who can't do his job like that..."
"Help us..."
"Why?"
It seems my prediction was correct. I'm stuck in this city like this.
'...That's terrible.'
I have to stay with these guys in this city? I already miss my room in the Demon King's Castle. Even though it was located in the Demon King's Castle, it was quite comfortable as no one came in unless there was something important to do.
As I was thinking about this and that about the bleak future, one fact suddenly popped into my head. If the monsters came all the way here, wouldn't there be some who escaped to the human world? Coincidentally, there was a border with the human world nearby.
'...What do we do.'
If it's the Southern part of the human world, it's not part of the Empire, so I guess I didn't have to worry about it. No, but it's still the human world, right?
Perhaps because the Empire's territory was so large, most of the boundaries so far have been found within the Empire. So there was no need to worry too much, but why did it show up in the wrong place?
'No, first of all, if it is true that the border is connected to the South, the priority is to check which region of the kingdom it is connected to. To do that, you have to check it yourself...'
"Haa..."
"!"
I tried to hold back, but I couldn't help but sigh.
How do you break through that? I also gave up on the 10th Corps. I guess I'll just stay stuck in this city until they go away on their own.
I was just turning around thinking that. Dvelania, who had been looking at me with a start since I sighed, shook her head as if there was nothing she could do and took a step forward.
"Since Demon wants it, I'll help you just this once."
"?"
"Let's go, Demon."
Ben stood next to me, swinging his visit bag.
I'm not sure what this conclusion was based on, but in the end it turned out as I had hoped, so I shook my head and walked away.
The gate opened, and a moment later–
In an atmosphere that was no different from when I had just arrived here, I was able to reach the border by stepping on the corpses of monsters.
As I stood there in a daze, in a place where day and night were clearly divided, as soon as my spirit that had run away from home for a while to go through hell returned, I realized something and opened my mouth.
Obviously I didn't say anything...? How did you know that I wanted to come here...
"Demon, you must have wanted to go there in person at least once to report, so I stopped by while I was out like this... Did I make a mistake...?"
"Oh... no... thank you."
If you think that way, I will feel comfortable and happy.
Before crossing the border, I first looked at my attire.
Regardless of whether it was imperial territory or not, it would be difficult for my identity to be discovered. Meanwhile, Dvelania, who was looking at me with wide eyes, turned her head and looked at Guysitel.
"Is the 10th Corps going back now? You must not forget your mission."
His expression darkened slightly at the words, which were completely correct.
"But as for guidance..."
"Demon, you are a human, so would you need guidance?
Well... if we really need guidance, I think it would be better for me to do it than you.
"I was the one who told you that beyond here was the 'South,' right?"
Come to think of it, Dvelania went to the human world a lot, at least for missions. I think she was probably the most knowledgeable about the human world than any other Corps Commander except me.
'Anyway, it's ridiculous to think about it again. Even so, I wouldn't have guessed that even Dvelania was silent about the existence of this place.'
Ben also looked at her with an expression on his face that looked as if he had a lot to say, as if it was absurd, but he narrowed his eyebrows instead, as if he didn't want to say something similar again.
Guysitel, overcome by logic, turned around with a sullen face.
Dvelania didn't stop there, and only after sending her corps back did she approach me with a relieved look on her face.
"Demon, are you ready?"
"Yes, what..."
I nodded, fiddling with the robe hood that covered my face.
Fortunately, my clothes were neat. I didn't lift a finger the entire time I was here, so it was natural that I wouldn't be disturbed. Mentally, I was incredibly tattered, but I could ignore that and say something.
"Then shall we go?"
"Yes..."
At this time, I was so lost in my thoughts that I overlooked an important fact.
Not only should I care about my clothes, but I should also care about their clothes.
Unlike me, who was clean, they were covered in the blood of monsters.
***
"They came over to the human world with seven layers of blood?!"
These crazy demons!
The king of a small Southern kingdom could not overcome his rising blood pressure and grabbed the back of his neck.
The knight, who saw his body falling backwards, quickly threw himself down and caught him.
"Your Highness! Calm! Calm down! Deep breaths, deep breaths...!"
"Hee-oo, hee-oo..."
What should we do with these damn demons? He wondered if they have any intention of hiding it or not!
Did they commit a murder somewhere? Fratricidal war? No, since they appeared while they were dealing with monsters, the blood probably belonged to the monsters.
As he thought about that, the king's expression changed subtly.
Should he be grateful for this? Whatever the intention, they dealt with monsters on behalf of the kingdom.
How dizzy he was when he suddenly heard that monsters had started coming from beyond the border. It was something that could have turned into a really big problem.
"...I heard there was an unusual demon among them."
"Ah yes. Wearing a black robe—"
"Look... Almost all the demons that come here are wearing robes. The proportion of black robes is 90%."
"Ah... But it is said that he was the only one among them who had a clean appearance without a trace of blood."The spirit he exuded was extraordinary, and the other demons who came with him seemed to respect and serve him, so I guess he must be a high-ranking demon."
As the explanation continued, the King's expression gradually hardened as the image of someone came to mind. Black robe, extraordinary spirit and high status in the demon world.
Of course, it was highly likely not. It shouldn't be. Why would 'he', who rarely came out of the Demon King's Castle unless it was important work such as a battle, come here?
But.
"Your Majesty! Here's a new report! One of the demons who crossed over to the human world is Dvelania, the Commander of the 2nd Corps of the Demon King's Army! They said it was easy to figure out because their faces weren't covered..."
"Damn it."
She wasn't covering her face. In that case, at least it meant that the one in the black robe was not the Commander of the 2nd Corps.
He heard that the demons who came with him took an attitude as if they respected and served the 'Black Robe'. How many people could the 2nd Corps Commander respect and serve?
As his confidence gradually waned, liberation and resignation appeared on the King's face.
"... The Commander of Corps 0."
"Yes?"
"The black robe. He's probably the Commander of Corps 0."
"That kind of thing! Why is he here...!"
"I don't know. It could have been reconnaissance or spying due to news of the discovery of a new border."
Either was not good.
But even so, there was no way to touch it.
They were busy paying attention to the Empire's rampaging actions, so if they get into trouble with the demon realm, the fate of this kingdom would be in jeopardy.
"Where are they and what are they doing now?"
"They say... they're heading to the market."
Like that?!
He didn't have anything to say about going to the market, and he couldn't say anything, but he hoped they checked out their outfits before they went.
They couldn't just leave it like this. If they were not careful, the kingdom will be turned upside down and the eyes of the Empire will fall on this side.
As the King did not want either of them, he had no choice but to give an unwilling order while touching his forehead.
"Hide it."
"Yes?"
"Hide their identity somehow. The method doesn't matter, but proceed in a way that causes as little fuss as possible."
"Okay, it would be best to give them clean robes first."
"Yes. But whether they will accept it obediently..."
"You have to think about that."
"...Yes?"
'I don't know, just handle it yourself. I don't want to worry anymore.'
The King waved his hand, pretending not to notice the other person's gaze filled with confusion and bewilderment.
***
For the first time in a while, the human world was sunny, as if to say, 'This is what it means to have a sun.'
Thanks to this, after facing the sun for the first time in a long time, I reflexively pulled on the hood of my robe to cover my face, and then slowly began to look around.
As if there was some rule, the border line that always existed in a sparsely populated area was, without exception, connected to an area in the mountains that was unlikely to be easily visited.
Dvelania grinned, stepped aside, and stretched out one arm.
"Where do you want to go from here, Demon? A downtown area with lots of people? Or a place with few people?"
"...A place where you can get to know the daily lives of the residents here..."
"Then, of course, that's the market. This will be your first time here, so I will guide you."
"However."
Ben, who had been making an expression as if something was bothering him since we came here, looked somewhere and opened his mouth.
"You saw a few rats, but you couldn't have noticed them, so are you just going to leave them like this?"
"Oh right. Because they're the type of guys that don't really cause any harm. I thought it would be more troublesome if I took them out, so I left it alone, but that's only if it doesn't bother Demon. What should I do?"
This wasn't home, there were just rats on the mountain, so there was no reason to waste time catching them when they didn't cause any harm.
It was annoying, and I didn't even know it existed.
No, actually, I still don't know. It's so quiet. Where are the rats?
"If they don't cause any harm, let's just go."
"Okay then, come this way."
As if he had been there once or twice before, Dvelania began to expertly go down the forest path.
We followed her and moved carefully so as not to hurt our ankles. Before long, we were able to meet a human at the entrance to the forest.
The problem was that those people were 'knights'.
Two fully armed knights wearing unfamiliar armor that looked active stopped us with stern faces.
As I was very nervous and ready to jump at any moment, they spoke to us.
"Are you the mercenaries? I heard the story. You killed the monsters that came here."
"...?"
"Thanks to you, we were able to overcome a major crisis. On behalf of the Knights Templar, I would like to thank you."
"No, well..."
I don't know what it is, but I'm glad you misunderstood us like this. I was worried that we might have to take armed conflict into account.
Ignoring the pricking of my conscience and answering hesitantly, one of the two rummaged through the luggage they had brought with them and took out two robes and a money pouch.
His eyes were still focused on me.
"It's a small fee, but it's a gratuity and a robe. I prepared the robe because I thought you would probably splatter a lot of blood while killing the monster, so it seems like I prepared it well."
Ah. Only then did I realize Develania and Ben's condition.
My condition wasn't the only thing to worry about.
The two were a mess because they had been fighting all the way to the border, and although I had gotten used to seeing Ben all the time, Ben's appearance, with snake scales covering part of his face, clearly did not resemble that of a human. However, he came to the human world without a robe.
I'm crazy. Damn it.
'...But you're giving us a robe? Rather than arresting us or immediately disposing of them?'
Now that I think about it, I didn't look at Dvelania and Ben during the whole conversation.
I wondered if the two of them had become invisible demons without me knowing, but in reality, that doesn't make sense, and there's only one hypothesis that comes to mind right now...
Oh, no way.
'Is he deliberately pretending not to know? No, this goes beyond pretending not to know and is at the level of hiding our identity?'