The problem of horses, which I thought was the crisis of a lifetime, was solved more easily than expected.
Ed made contact with someone, put away the horse, and prepared a carriage instead.
Then, he approached me and carefully asked for my understanding in an extremely polite manner... I honestly wondered why he was so reserved.
I liked it though.
Anyway, after receiving Ed's repeated apologies, I got into the carriage and was now leaving the castle and heading towards the city.
Of course, because the road wasn't paved at all, my butt hurt every time the carriage ran over a bump... but what can I do? It's much better than riding that horse.
And even if I didn't want to endure it, I had no choice but to endure it. There was Ed in front of me.
He sat across from me, saying he had something to explain, and was calmly flipping through documents and reading the fine print in this rough, shaking carriage.
It was truly an amazing ability.
"The reason why monsters are targeting the city is simple. Because there is plenty of food. Originally, they would have targeted small villages that could not offer any resistance, but now that all that is left is the city, it is natural for them to flock there."
"If you think about it that way, the Demon King Castle is also the size of a small city…"
"Isn't there a Demon King in the Demon King Castle? In addition, there are Corps Commanders."
"Ah."
"On the other hand, the city has nothing but easy-going people. A city that seems like it can't do anything if it pushes against the Demon King's Castle, which is full of powerful people whose end is unknown. If you had to choose between the two, you would definitely choose the city."
Monsters have no reason. They were just faithful to their instincts.
There was no way these guys, who had developed instincts as much as they lacked reason, could not feel the energy emanating from the Demon King's Castle. Even if they couldn't feel it, they could have at least sensed the danger.
It's just that there's no reason, but that doesn't mean there's no emotion. As long as the feeling of fear was not lost, it was natural to avoid the Demon King Castle.
"And the city is often visited by people from other regions for exchanges. So, just by guarding the road and attacking them, you could have had enough to eat."
"There's no travel there now, so they're probably targeting the castle itself."
"Yes, that's right..."
Thump!
Ah!!
The carriage shook violently. My paper-like body also shook.
Ed, who naturally caught me, checked my body to see if there was anything wrong with it, and then sat me down and continued talking as if nothing had happened.
"...That's right. So, in the castle we..."
Kiieeek!
"Be on guard!"
"Don't let them get near the carriage!"
"...Let's plan to..."
"You damn monsters!! Die! Die!!"
…It's truly amazing in many ways.
There were several attacks by monsters on the way here. How could I, who was so shocked at first, sit so calmly now?
But Ed's calmness went beyond common sense. Unable to bear it any longer, I slowly opened the window, looked outside, and made a vague comment.
It was chaos outside.
"Ed, aren't you going to help them?"
"The Corps members will take care of it. Don't worry, they're not in the 0th Corps for nothing."
"Uh... well..."
It sure seemed like that. The Corps members were steadily killing monsters.
There didn't seem to be any serious injuries, and no matter how bad they were, everyone could take care of at least one monster...
But... Why is Ben out fighting there?
"Die! Die!"
Splat!
Blood splattered. I quickly leaned back and closed the window.
I thought I moved pretty quickly, but it seems I was already too late. There was warm liquid on my cheek.
Well, I knew one thing for sure. Ben was out of his mind right then.
When I roughly wiped my face with the back of my hand, Ed, who was shocked for some reason, hurriedly took out a handkerchief and wiped my cheek with a white face, and spoke in a stern voice.
"I think it would be best to open the window after the battle is over."
"Uh, yes. Alright. But Ben..."
I thought back to the image of Ben I saw a little while ago. The sight of him swinging his visitation bag and smashing the monster's head, letting out an even louder scream. To the point where there was confusion about his occupation.
Wasn't he a doctor? Where did the doctor go and what kind of berserker seems to have been there instead?
"Ah, Ben, once he feels the rush of battle, he has a hard time controlling himself. Even if they look like that, they are still demons."
That's right, they're demons. I forgot about it for a while.
He's not only a doctor, but he's also good at fighting. Isn't this enough to take just one person with me?
However, Ed said he can't control himself once he goes on a rampage, so I never want to be alone with him.
As I remembered the past times when we were alone together for purposes such as treatment, I slowly massaged my stomach in shock.
'Oh, I feel sick.'
Somehow, it feels like the more capable people that were around me, the shorter my lifespan became.
"Hahahaha! Die, you bastards!!"
"Haa..."
I leaned my head helplessly against the wall of the carriage, listening to Ben's manic voice coming from outside.
Ah, it's just monsters, so I hope it ends quickly.
"A short break!"
"Rest!"
Ed's loud voice came through the crack in the door and into the carriage. In addition, the voices of the Corps members repeating the sentiment.
I sat there for a while, stretching out my soggy body and thinking to myself.
'Looking at him like that, he looks like he's a real Deputy Commander.'
As he tried to wait on me so much and did little errands, I got him confused with a servant.
From the Empire's point of view, that is what the Vice-Corps Commander should do, but in the Demon King's Castle, the Corps Commanders' adjutants also serve as the Vice-Corps Commander, so Ed was currently performing his role very well.
It was frustrating to stay in the carriage all day, so I got out of the carriage to rest my sore butt and get some air.
When I opened the door and got out, what caught my eye was a group of black horses with a black hair. They showed off their overwhelming majesty just by themselves, and were gathered in one place, tearing at something with their teeth.
I was momentarily startled by the seemingly peaceful atmosphere, but was able to relax, albeit slightly.
'Still, it seems like words are just words. I saw that they were grazing in a way that did not match their appearance...'
Hmm?
...Something is a little strange.
Isn't that... a monster corpse?
Right. It really is a monster corpse. So, right now, those guys are peacefully huddled together and eating monster corpses...
As soon as I realized the fact, I reflexively retreated.
I came to my senses when I felt the hard, cold carriage door on my back.
"Commander Demon."
"..."
"Commander Demon?"
"..."
Damn scary things! There were so many.
There are as many Corps members as there are, so it's natural that there are a lot of them... but it's also scary. They wouldn't suddenly go crazy or something, right?
Maybe it's because of the horses' terrifying appearance that can't be seen in the human world, but my eyes keep going there against my will.
It's definitely not because I'm interested. No, if it's fear, it's still interest. Keeping something in sight for vigilance is also a form of interest. As I was staring blankly at the group of horses, a water bottle was suddenly thrust in front of my nose.
"Commander Demon, would you like some water?"
For something that was brought up out of the blue, the attitude was quite polite.
The owner of this action, which seemed more like ordering rather than offering, was none other than Ed, my loyal adjutant.
Actually, I expected it.
'How many people can be so devoted to me?'
How can he fulfill his duty like this even though the other person is just a human being?
"Thank you."
Gratitude for water and gratitude for serving me as a human being and still doing his duty without showing any signs of malice.
Ed, who had no way of knowing that this greeting had two meanings, smiled and said that it was only natural.
Then, he glanced at me at the group of horses I had been staring at blankly a moment ago, and then spoke carefully, as if he had decided on something.
"I saw you a little while ago... I thought you were looking at the horses..."
"Oh, yes."
Damn, I almost forgot. Yes, I was watching. I'm afraid they might go crazy.
The strong demons might not know, but if I, who am particularly weak even among humans, was hit something like that, my body and soul would be separated. So I had no choice but to be on guard.
Anyway, it seems like he was watching me quite a bit to notice that. Did the Demon King give an order?
'No, maybe because of the resignation letter?'
Because you think I might flee?
It is a somewhat plausible guess.
Ed, who was a little hesitant, slowly spoke. The words that came out of his hesitantly opened lips contained something that was completely unexpected.
"Do you... perhaps want to ride a horse?"
"Yes?"
"As expected, you still had some regrets..."
I was doing well and then suddenly he brought this up?
You want me to ride that horrible thing?
I gaped at the absurdity and belatedly waved my hand away.
But it seems to have appeared differently to him.
"No, absolutely not. That's not it..."
"I'm sorry. It may be frustrating, but could you at least use the carriage until you feel better? "You can ride the horse as much as you like after that, so please."
"...."
I stopped his mouth as I was about to deny it again.
Wait a minute, doesn't that mean I'll never ride again in my life?
My physical condition was not an aftereffect from the hero, it was congenital, so it will never get any better in my lifetime.
So, is there any need to deny it?
"...All right."
There is no need to show weakness to the demons, and it would be better than embarrassing myself.
My throat burned, perhaps because of the sense of crisis that I almost rode the horse.
I happened to be holding a water bottle in my hand, so I took a sip from my mouth while watching carefully...
"You, newbie, you know how to ride a horse quite well now, right?"
"No! Not well enough!"
"What's with this humility? Okay, that's enough. So now only the final procedure remains, I guess?"
"Okay, there is one most important thing left. Should we say it is a special tradition unique to our corps? Actually, it hasn't been that long. But it's still a special tradition."
Was there something like that in 0th Corps?
Even though I knew it was rude to eavesdrop, I unconsciously listened.
What is the final procedure?
Before that, it was questionable whether there was anything called "tradition" in Corps 0.
Corps 0 is a Corps created by me. In other words, it is a new corps that was created only about 2 years ago... A tradition?
I was worried that the sound of me swallowing water would interfere with what they were saying, so I held it in my mouth and focused on their conversation.
And I had to regret not swallowing the water.
"There is one story that every member of Corps 0 must know. A story about our Corps Commander, Demon Arut."
"Oh, no way..."
"Yes. You need to know clearly about the situation when Commander Demon killed the hero so you don't end up being embarrassed."
What!!
"Cough! Cough!!"
"Demon?!"
Fortunately, because Ed immediately lowered his head, the unfortunate incident of water spewing on Ed's face did not occur. I hurriedly wiped the corners of my mouth and coughed repeatedly to get rid of the water that had accidentally spilled over.
Thanks to this, it was Ed who was embarrassed.
He hurriedly took out a new handkerchief and held it close to my mouth. He gently removed the handkerchief to check the appearance and stuttered with an expression of astonishment.
"Blood... blood..."
Huh? Did I bleed again?
Looking at that pale complexion, it looks like blood had come out again.
Well, it's not like this happened only once or twice. I was still so embarrassed...
"There was no blood! The attending physician, the attending physician!!"
"...?"
"Ben! Where are you! BEEEEENN!!"
Hey? Doesn't something feel strange right now?
Why are you even more shocked that no blood came out? Shouldn't it be the other way around?
The handkerchief was clean. At least it didn't have any red stains on it.
Of course, I'm just confused.
"What's going on!"
Oh my god. Here came Ben.
Seeing that person running in such a hurry made my conscience prick.
I tried to control the situation even now, but the adjutant, who was so loyal that I wanted to throw him away, was one step ahead of me, grabbed him by the collar, and shouted loudly.
"Demon suddenly coughed violently, but no blood came out!"
"Oh my god!"
At this point I gave up thinking.
I was wrong. These guys have no common sense at all.