Chapter 233
It was the morning of the day after Nahun and Baruna returned from the Asura tribe village. An uninvited guest had come to Nahun’s bedroom.
“Teacher.”
“Ugh….”
“Teacher, Teacher!”
“…Hmm, Seere…?”
Seere was shaking him awake while sitting on his body. She looked down at him with a slightly pouty expression.
“Wake up, come on.”
“I’ll get up, so stop shaking me…”
Seeing Seere come to wake him up early in the morning, Nahun couldn’t hide a yawn as he got up. Seere also got off his body.
“Yawn…, what’s the matter?”
“I think you need to wake up. The Asura tribe has arrived.”
“Huh?… What time is it?”
“It’s 4 AM.”
“……”
Don’t they sleep at all?
He had definitely told them to come to the 25th floor within a week, but he didn’t expect to have to greet them so early in the morning.
“…I’ll get ready and come out soon. Where’s Baruna Vice Commander?”
“He’s already out and responding. The higher-ups all wake up early these days because of training.”
“Oh, that’s right.”
To prepare for war, each legion was going to bed early after sunset and getting up early in the morning when the sun rose. Among them, the higher-ups woke up even earlier to prepare. They would do the opposite during night operation training, but for now, daytime training was underway.
“Go out ahead. I’ll be out soon.”
Though he told her to go ahead, Seere puffed up her cheeks as if she didn’t like that.
“I’m going with you.”
“…Alright, do as you wish.”
Nahun said that as he got out of bed. As he tilted his neck slightly to relieve the stiffness, Seere gently caressed around his neck and asked.
“Is this stiff?”
“Hmm, a bit. Did I sleep poorly…?”
As Seere kneaded the stiffness with her hands, Nahun looked satisfied and relieved. It was touching to have a disciple who genuinely cared for her teacher.
“I chose a good disciple.”
“Just because I gave you a massage?”
Seere said that and laughed lightly. Thanks to Seere loosening up his neck, Nahun felt refreshed and said,
“That’s enough. I need to start preparing and get going.”
“Yes.”
Nahun headed to the bathroom to wash up briefly. Seere scampered after him and asked,
“Shall I wash you?”
“…That’s not necessary.”
As Nahun narrowed his eyes, Seere spoke as if to deny it.
“I won’t do anything weird.”
“Still, it’s fine. I prefer to wash myself.”
“…Alright.”
Looking slightly sulky, her lips puffed out. Seeing Seere like that, Nahun couldn’t help but sigh and said,
“Then just wash my hair…”
When Nahun made a small concession, Seere’s eyes sparkled, and she cheerfully replied.
“Yes!”
Nahun thought Seere was following him in hopes of doing something a bit inappropriate. Still, since they needed to leave soon, he steeled himself and entered the bathroom, intending to refuse her if needed. However…
“?”
To his surprise, Seere did nothing at all and gently washed just his hair. The sensation of her soft fingers touching his scalp felt quite pleasant.
“Is the water not too cold?”
“Um, no… I’m using hot water after all.”
Seere quietly washed his hair, and Nahun, with a puzzled expression, went about washing his face and brushing his teeth. When he came out, Seere held a towel and said,
“I’ll dry you off!”
“Uh, okay.”
The entire situation in the bathroom ended up being very calm, as if nothing had happened. There were no strange actions like pressing her chest against the back of his head or suddenly hugging him from behind…
Seere didn’t do anything that one might expect from her. Nahun thought something was off and glanced back at Seere.
“What’s wrong? Did I rub too hard?”
“It’s not that… Why are you doing nothing?”
“Pardon?”
“I’m not saying I’m disappointed, but usually, Seere, wouldn’t you be playing some mischievous prank by now? That’s what’s weird about it.”
Upon hearing Nahun’s words, Seere lightly scratched her cheek, feeling guilty about her usual behavior. She did indeed often tempt Nahun playfully, enjoying seeing him slightly flustered.
“Are you planning something else…?”
“Ah, no! Not at all…”
“Then?”
“…”
Seere’s face turned slightly red. Then, covering her cheeks with the towel she was holding, she muttered,
“I wanted to become a good wife…”
“…?”
“Rea told me. If you pay attention to these small, trivial things, the person you’ll marry will be happy…”
Nahun contemplated for a moment.
‘Is that what they call being a good wife…?’
Of course, one could say that these things are part of support, but typically, the term refers to a mother who takes care of the household well so that her husband can work comfortably without worry and raises children well.
In today’s age, it has become somewhat of a patriarchal term, but still… It didn’t seem to have much to do with washing and drying hair.
However, there didn’t seem to be a need to nitpick over it. If Seere’s mischievous teasing had lessened for that reason, it wouldn’t be bad for Nahun.
“Were you satisfied, Teacher?”
“Hmm? Well… it wasn’t bad. But there’s no need for you to go through the trouble of doing tasks that could easily be done by a maid.”
“I didn’t say I’d do it every day!”
“Oh, right.”
If it was just occasionally, then there would be no harm in it.
“Yeah, just occasionally.”
“Is that good? Right?”
“Yeah.”
“Hehe…”
Seere giggled as she finished drying Nahun’s hair. Then she brought a comb and brushed his hair, bringing a mirror after.
“How does it look?”
“…Seere, what did you do to my hair?”
“I changed the style a bit!”
Nahun’s bangs had suddenly risen up as if styled with wax. Wondering if there was any wax around, Nahun asked Seere.
“What on earth did you do?”
“I cast a heating spell on the comb to shape it and then cooled it down!”
“…”
He hadn’t even heard her chant.
It seemed like Seere had already performed the spell while he was lost in thought.
“You have a nice head shape, so this suits you well!”
“Really…?”
“In fact, it’s hard to pull off without being handsome, but you’re handsome, so…”
“…But how do you know about male hairstyles?”
“I once read a beauty-related book, and I remember the ones that would suit you.”
She had quite the good memory. Considering she could memorize the faces of the soldiers, it made sense. Nahun tilted his head thoughtfully.
“Hmm?”
Now that he thought about it, Seere remembered all the faces of the legionnaires. But how did Paimon manage to plant a spy? Since they were aware of the appearance of the demons, it was clear that there had to be a spy…
‘…Or not?’
It could be that the spy was planted among the Phynox alliance. Since the appearance of the demons had been seen by the allied forces of Phynox. If Paimon’s spy had been in Seere’s army, she would have noticed, and she should have also been aware of the appearance of the great demon.
It seemed there was no need to order an investigation throughout the whole legion.
“Now, you can get dressed!”
“I’ll dress myself, so you can wait outside…”
“Can’t you just let me help you with your shirt?”
Although Nahun didn’t really want to have his disciple do that, he couldn’t bring himself to refuse when he saw Seere’s eager eyes.
“Alright…”
“Then I’ll get your shirt and jacket!”
Seere went to the wardrobe and began to pull out Nahun’s formal attire, while he sighed and took off his comfortable pajama top to fold it neatly to the side.
“Wow…”
“…”
I knew this would happen. Seeing Nahun’s muscular body, Seere’s face turned bright red. She was trying to pretend it didn’t affect her, but it was clear she couldn’t take her eyes off him.
“Don’t stare like that, just look at me. It’s cold.”
“Ah, yes!”
Seere hurriedly brought the shirt and slipped it onto one of his arms. Nahun took the initiative to put both arms into the shirt and drape it over his shoulders. Then Seere asked,
“Can I button it for you?”
There was no way Nahun didn’t realize her intentions regarding the buttons. However, he thought it wouldn’t be so bad to let her do this much, so he nodded.
“Sure, thank you…”
Hearing gratitude for allowing her to button his shirt put Nahun in a strange mood. Seere reached for the buttons and, naturally, seemed to lean almost entirely on him.
Nahun looked down at her. Seere’s usual clothing, which revealed her cleavage and shoulder lines, created quite a seductive scene.
As the buttons clicked one by one, Nahun slightly narrowed his eyes. And while she couldn’t take her eyes off him, he leaned down a little.
A soft peck echoed in the air.
“Eh.”
As he lightly kissed the top of her head, Seere looked up in surprise. Then, taking advantage of the moment she looked up, Nahun leaned down once more and pressed his lips against hers.
“Ugh, T-Teacher!? Suddenly…”
“Since you’ve been so cute since morning, I thought I should reward you.”
“But we said we wouldn’t do this kind of thing! This is unfair… Ugh…”
Nahun gently embraced Seere’s waist and kissed her again before she could protest. And this time, after exploring her lips a bit longer, he pulled back and asked,
“How long do you think Baruna’s patience will hold?”
“Thirty minutes…? That should be about right…”
“An hour might be pushing it.”
“…Maybe it’s possible.”
As Seere’s answer fell, Nahun hugged her and laid her back on the bed.
Thanks to that, the two of them ended up being a little late in their preparation.
#
“Your Majesty, Nahun, you have arrived.”
Baruna greeted them respectfully but almost burst into laughter upon seeing Nahun’s hair.
“No, Nahun… Your hair is quite different!”
“…Seere did it.”
“Eh?… Oh!”
Baruna quickly bowed his head and said,
“You must have gone through a lot of trouble preparing so early in the morning, Your Majesty.”
Seeing Baruna recover quickly, Seere commented as if letting it slide.
“It’s alright. I said I would prepare as quickly as possible, but I was a bit late.”
“There’s no need for the Majestic One to apologize. They came way too early.”
Fortunately, Baruna was thinking that he must have been late preparing due to suddenly waking up in the early dawn. Although the slight flush on Seere’s cheeks and the lightly beaded sweat on her collarbone told a different story, it seemed Baruna hadn’t noticed.
“Do Asuras usually get up this early?”
“We generally don’t have much of a morning sleep. We really enjoy training in martial arts.”
“Hmm… While that’s a good reason, it’s still too early.”
When Nahun said that, Baruna lightly laughed in agreement. Nahun then asked Baruna,
“Are you still thinking of remaining in the 4th Legion, Vice Commander?”
“Yes, that’s where I belong.”
“Well, if you’re fine with being a Vice Commander, that’s okay, but now that you’re a chief, doesn’t that mess with your rank a little?”
“I, Baruna, am not foolish enough to confuse the role of being a Vice Commander with the duties of being a chief.”
Seere nodded.
“I believe you’ll do well, Vice Commander Baruna.”
“Thank you, Your Majesty.”
“But you’ve decided who will lead them, right?”
“Yes.”
“Good. Who do you think should be appointed to the commander position, Vice Commander?”
At Seere’s question, Baruna raised his head.
“I think my father, Aruna, is the most suitable. Not only is he strong as a warrior, but having held the chief position for a long time, his leadership skills must be excellent. I think Binata, who has served my father for a long time, would be suited as Vice Commander.”
“How skilled is this Binata?”
Nahun knew about Aruna’s skills, but not about Binata, so he asked Baruna.
“She is about the third strongest in the Asura tribe village. Even excluding brute force, she excels at various tasks, so I thought she would be suitable for the Vice Commander position, which supports the commander.”
“I permit that. Have the Vice Commander command them as the chief. They are…”
Seere said,
“From now on, they have become the ‘3rd Legion’ of our Debata army.”
“Yes.”
Baruna knelt on one knee and pledged his loyalty to his lord, Seere.
“As the chief who will lead the Asura tribe, I swear they will fight for you, Your Majesty.”
“Thank you, Vice Commander. Truly.”
Receiving Baruna’s oath of loyalty, Seere smiled gently. Then, together with Nahun, they followed Baruna to the training grounds where the Asura tribe had gathered and awaited them.
The training grounds were orderly, with many Asura tribe members waiting. It seemed there had been orders from their chief, Baruna.
“I’m sorry for making you wait.”
Though Baruna had become the chief, he didn’t treat the members of the Asura tribe too casually. Having been away from the village for so long, he felt he needed to uphold the etiquette.
“This here is our lord, Her Majesty Seere von Debata.”
As Seere stepped onto the platform, the Asura tribe expressed their admiration.
“Oooo…”
“How beautiful!”
“She seems quite young.”
“She’s definitely young. I guess he didn’t hear how the Demon King’s War ended. She’s just twenty years old.”
“Eh, she’s younger than my daughter? And she ended the Demon King’s War?”
“That means she must be quite strong.”
Seere smiled slightly and said,
“You all are quite honest.”
“…They only know about martial arts and fighting. Please understand, Your Majesty.”
“It’s alright. I appreciate that you’re treating me relatively comfortably.”
Seere forgivingly moved to the front of the platform.
“Ahem.”
Seere cleared her throat once and spoke to the Asura tribe with a confident voice.
“I am Seere von Debata, the 25th ranked Demon King. I truly appreciate that you gentlemen willingly accepted to come under my command without rebelling against the chief’s wishes.”
The successor of the Demon King. The Asura tribe, who had heard much about Seere von Debata through rumors, were paying quite close attention to her words. Although they had not witnessed her skill directly, the Asura tribe, being excellent fighters, sensed intuitively.
Seere was an exceptionally strong Demon King.
“If you gentlemen pledge your loyalty to me, as your lord, I will protect and take responsibility for you. The honor and actions of you all will be my responsibility, and my honor will also depend on your actions. I hope you will always keep that in mind and act accordingly.”
Seere said,
“Our Debata castle genuinely welcomes you.”
That was the beginning. It was when a fearsome legion known as the ‘Evil Spirits’ came to be under Seere’s command.
