185th Chapter
“Oh my….”
“How nice it is~.”
Every time they passed by, such words could be heard. However, Seere, who was next to Nahun, smiled as if she found it pleasant.
Nahun sighed. Indeed, ever since they had their affair from last night until this afternoon, the looks and reactions of the attendants every time they passed by had been like that.
Nahun understood why they reacted that way. She had been overly excited, and as a result, Seere’s waist had even started to hurt.
Using that as an excuse, Seere was clinging to Nahun with her arm around her. The atmosphere was noticeably different from when they had done the same before, and even those who didn’t know about Nahun visiting her room last night could roughly guess something had happened.
“Oh my, Your Majesty.”
And in the midst of this, they ran into Cecili. Nahun felt extremely uncomfortable and awkward, wanting to escape the situation, but Seere seemed either unaware or pretending not to know.
“Cecili~!”
Seere greeted her cheerfuly, and Cecili returned the greeting.
“So, how was it? Was last night hot?”
“W-why are you asking that?”
“Because I’m curious~.”
Cecili made jokes to ease the awkward atmosphere. Nahun knew that she was trying to keep the mood light because she didn’t want things to be awkward between them.
So, Nahun decided to match her rhythm. Pulling Seere’s shoulder slightly closer, she replied.
“It was good.”
“S-Teacher!?”
“Oh my, oh my.”
Cecili’s tail swayed. Seeing that, Nahun silently thanked Cecili. She was resolved to be a little mischievous for a while, just as she herself had said.
‘She helped me clear my mind… much faster than I thought.’
This must have been her consideration. To reciprocate this gratitude, Nahun spoke.
“I’ll tell the head maid to extend your vacation.”
“…Really, Nahun?”
“Wait a moment, Teacher. Why are you acting on your own…?”
“Is that not okay?”
When Nahun asked, Seere pouted.
“That’s a bit unfair to ask like that…”
Unable to refuse Nahun’s request, Seere nodded in agreement. She had been planning to express her gratitude to Cecili and Rea anyway.
“I’ll let Rea know.”
“Thank you, Your Majesty!”
In fact, the reason Cecili could forgive Nahun so quickly was that he had come to Debata Castle during a difficult time.
It was none other than Nahun who had revived the nearly defeated Debata faction, which had lost most of its power and fallen to the lowest rank after two years. Just as Lin El Lazine had told him, she had not forgotten that grace.
Even if there were feelings of resentment for not helping her loved one and her lord, Nahun had already given more to Debata Castle than enough to repay it.
Recently, the worried expressions of Rea and Cain regarding the budget had completely disappeared. The joyful expressions of Mark and Eldein, who had been happy about their salary increase, were still unforgettable.
Cecili spoke to Nahun, who had given all of that.
“Congratulations.”
“Hmm?”
Nahun looked at Cecili for a moment and then nodded.
“Yeah, I know your help was significant.”
“Hoho, you flatter me. But you must not make Your Majesty cry, Nahun.”
“Yeah, I know.”
After parting with Cecili, Nahun and Seere walked a bit further. During this time, Nahun spoke.
“Seere, let’s meet again in a little while.”
“Yeah?”
Nahun looked at Seere, who was bewildered, as if to ask why she was so surprised. Seere spoke.
“W-why?”
“Because we need to get to work now.”
“Ah.”
Seere, who was so happy being with Nahun that she forgot her responsibilities, reacted as if she belatedly realized it. Nahun lightly pinched Seere’s cheek.
“Ow.”
“You must not forget your duty.”
“Yes…”
Seere sadly released Nahun’s arm. Nahun looked at her face for a moment before quietly lowering her head and whispering in her ear.
“If you endure today well, I’ll give you a reward.”
“…Huh? A reward?”
“Yeah.”
Nahun spoke softly.
“A kiss… perhaps.”
Seere’s eyes widened, and Nahun felt a bit embarrassed and cleared his throat. Seere recalled what Nahun had done a moment ago and spoke.
“……Wow.”
“Why that reaction…?”
“I can’t believe the Teacher has tempted me….”
“T-tempted? What are you talking about…!”
“H-He, is that not so?”
Before Nahun could even refute, Seere giggled and ran away to her office. Nahun briefly watched Seere scurry away and chuckled.
Suddenly, a saying came to mind. The saying goes that people change when they fall in love. Nahun muttered as he recalled this.
“…I too have changed quite a bit.”
#
Now that the two major problems that had been Nahun’s biggest worries were resolved, he felt relatively at ease. However, that didn’t mean there weren’t ongoing issues to face immediately.
In the office, while skimming through reports, Nahun spoke.
“What’s up with the alliance from the 44th to 40th floors?”
“Dein hasn’t contacted us yet.”
“…Dein still hasn’t come?”
That was hard to believe. It had already been 10 days since he allowed Dein to take action, and given Dein’s work capability, he should have returned by now.
“Any reports from yesterday?”
“There was a report, but we receive them in the morning. And today is still…”
“Then you should have said that. Why didn’t you report?”
“…It’s hard to report since Nahun is busy with Your Majesty.”
At Ersha’s question, Nahun fell silent. It wasn’t a mistake on Ersha’s part; upon review, it was his fault. Nahun regretted that he should have called it a day then and there.
“By the way, a girl has been handling things instead of you, Nahun. We dispatched Deputy Eliza.”
“T-then that’s a relief.”
“I think she will be back soon…”
At that moment, a knock sounded on the office door. Nahun quickly told them to come in, and the door opened to reveal a blue-haired woman bowing her head.
“Deputy Eliza of the 2nd Legion, here to report after completing the mission.”
“Welcome. So, what happened?”
“…It seems we’ve captured an infiltrator on the 40th floor.”
“…You mean Dein has been captured?”
Nahun was well aware of Dein’s abilities. In the human world, there were hardly any assassins capable of catching up to him, and in the demon world, it was similarly rare to be caught. It shouldn’t have happened under normal circumstances…
“The higher-up must have taken action.”
“That’s quite likely.”
If it were a top executive from any Demon Lord, the situation would indeed be different. Especially since there was no guarantee that someone skilled wouldn’t exist in this domain. Nahun pondered about the Demon Lord Phynox on the 40th floor.
‘A Demon Lord who has never particularly shown outstanding presence.’
With Demon Lords that didn’t appear in the original work now being a reality, there was quite a bit of common ground. Gremony was one of them…
“Do you know which Demon Lord it is?”
“The girl herself doesn’t know well. It was a Demon Lord who didn’t exist before.”
There were quite a few uncertainties about dealing with them directly. Especially now that he couldn’t use his own powers. Nahun thought that the only viable solution would be the same as before and addressed Ersha.
“Contact Paimon.”
“Eh? Ah, you mentioned that you forged an alliance back then.”
“Right. Since Phynox is a Demon Lord of the Plebs faction, if we contact him, there might be a way.”
Even though it would be discourteous to interfere with another Demon Lord’s matters, it was different if it were the leader of the faction. Paimon was at the peak of the Plebs faction and would likely want to make a positive impression on Nahun following the outcome of the recent Great Demon War.
‘For the sake of his own plans.’
He was likely to draw Nahun into this, and thus he would be able to save Dein.
“Get in touch as quickly as possible.”
#
Dein was in the underground prison of the 40th floor Demon King Castle. There was no way a spy would receive proper treatment, and naturally, there was accompanying beatings and torture, along with a total lack of proper meals.
Although Dein was physically very capable for a human, there was no way to endure the torture directed at a robust demon.
“Where did you come from! Tell me what you came to investigate!”
For daring to not speak, Dein’s body had become a mangled mess. His forehead was split open and blood flowed down to his eyes, his cheeks were swollen, and whether his lips were torn or his mouth was injured, blood flowed from his lips as well.
His entire body was covered in bruises and torn wounds… a wretched sight indeed. However, Dein remained stubbornly quiet. He merely glared silently at the guard torturing him. His gaze was so deadly that the guard flinched in surprise.
“Y-you damn human…!”
“Hey, I told you not to kill him. The General insisted on figuring out what he knows.”
“Yeah… that’s right. The only reason I’m not killing you is because of that, you spy bastard!”
As the guard shouted, Dein smirked. Though he said nothing, that expression alone was enough to ignite the guard’s anger.
“You insolent…!!”
The guard pulled out a hefty baton he had at his waist.
“It seems the torture was insufficient!”
“Hey, you need to give him a break! Otherwise, he will die!”
“What commotion is this?”
At that moment, a man descended into the underground prison where Dein was held. Dein shot him a pointed look.
‘So, he has come.’
That man was the one who had captured Dein. Oris, a high-ranking demon and one of Phynox’s closest aides.
He had two large horns on his head, a feature not seen on anyone other than the Demon Lords, and this was due to his species characteristics.
‘Yasha.’ Among the many races living in the Demon World, they were famous as a fighting race along with the Asura. The two races despised each other, so they didn’t like being associated with one another…
Nevertheless, as the name suggested, most from this race were skilled fighters. Oris was one of the strongest among the Yasha.
As Oris appeared, who had captured him, Dein ceased his provocations and went quiet. Losing his life here wouldn’t matter, but he absolutely had to inform Nahun of the information he had gathered.
“Release him.”
“Pardon?”
However, inexplicably, Oris instructed for Dein to be released. When the guards first didn’t understand and looked puzzled, Oris narrowed his brow.
“I said to release him.”
“Y-yes, at once…!”
The guards, still confused about why they were releasing someone they had been torturing, complied, albeit reluctantly. Dein was similarly baffled.
“You’re lucky, human.”
“…What’s your game?”
“On the contrary, that’s what I want to ask. What trick did you pull to…?”
Oris narrowed his eyes as he spoke.
“Have you managed to turn our Lord’s mind around?”
“What did you say?”
“Not only did he give orders to release you, but he also expressed intentions to withdraw from the war.”
“…What?”
“Thanks to that, all the preparations we had made are now useless. That includes the information you’ve gathered.”
“……”
Dein wondered whether Oris was toying with him or if he was intentionally leaking false information to mislead him. He contemplated whether it might be better to keep the information he had just heard to himself.
‘For now… it might be wiser to stay silent.’
Dein was making that judgment, but surprisingly, everything Oris said was indeed true. Just moments ago, Phynox had received some news and commanded Oris to release Dein and send him back, all while stating an intention to withdraw from the alliance.
Dein slightly loosened his wrists and ankles that had grown stiff from being bound. To this, Oris commented.
“I don’t expect a farewell.”
“…Not necessary.”
“You must return safely. So make sure to return properly.”
Oris appeared somewhat displeased to have to release a captured spy.
Just then, Dein suddenly remembered something and paused for a moment.
‘Troublesome, is it?’
As Dein stood still, Oris asked.
“Why are you hesitating?”
“Ah… my bruised calf isn’t responding well. It’s fine now.”
Having said that, Dein confidently stepped out of the prison’s main entrance and exited the 40th floor Demon King Castle. Then, after a brief moment of contemplation, he did not head toward the portal to the 50th floor, but instead took a different route.
