[CHAPTER 87]
“……Do you have something you want to say?”
I was already about one step into the gap of the Demon Realm.
If things went on like this and the door closed…….
‘Well, it wouldn’t really be a problem.’
It would just hurt like hell, that’s all.
Seeing my eyes checking whether the door showed any sign of closing, Sian seemed to be thinking the same thing.
Sian readily released the wrist he had been holding.
I hurriedly slipped the rest of my body into the crack of the Demon Realm door.
Hadn’t he had something to say?
When I turned back to look at him from inside, Sian’s lips were moving slightly.
“When you come back again, then……”
“Yes?”
“Please call me Sian.”
“……”
“You already called me that once, didn’t you?”
Me?
When?
I wanted to ask, but there wasn’t even time to do that.
Before we could exchange any more words, the door closed.
“Ah.”
Maybe I should have used a bit more magic to keep it open longer.
As the door shut in an instant and Sian disappeared from sight, I felt a strange sense of loneliness.
‘This isn’t the time for that.’
But the feeling passed quickly.
I soon pulled myself together from my loosened state of mind.
‘Let’s go.’
It was practically my own home, yet it felt like I was visiting after a very long time.
I slowly closed my eyes and opened them again.
Standing in darkness where nothing could be heard, I suddenly felt my body floating up.
And before long…….
A heavy, stale wind blew past.
Unlike the fresh air of the Human Realm, the Demon Realm was always filled with this kind of oppressive, suffocating wind.
Ah, right, this was the Demon Realm.
I immediately started walking.
There was no time to waste here.
***
“A portal connected to the Human Realm has opened.”
“What? Again?”
Illay, who had been walking toward the conference room, came to a sudden stop.
He had been receiving a brief report from his aide on the way to the regular meeting.
“Yes…… They say it wasn’t even through a dungeon this time.”
“Then?”
“If it wasn’t through a dungeon, what else could it be?”
“Either someone with a lot of nerve tried to steal the Demon King’s authority, or……”
“The Demon King has returned.”
Illay, who had been frozen in place, let out a sigh and started walking again.
The aide followed closely behind him, still unable to let go of his expectations, and asked,
“Could it be that the Demon King has really returned this time?”
“That won’t be the case.”
“Lady Jerena would……”
“……?”
“……be better off staying in the Human Realm.”
Illay’s eyes darkened.
In his last memory, Jerena had still been in a state where she had lost most of her magic.
‘Once this matter is sorted out, I can go back.’
The errand Jerena had given him had taken far longer than expected.
There were far more demons who had created human hybrids than anticipated, and the paperwork related to hybrids that had come to a halt after Jerena disappeared was far too poorly handled.
Since returning to the Demon Realm, Illay had not had a single proper day of rest.
The same was true for his aide.
They worked busily to return as soon as possible, yet this much time had passed.
In the meantime, he was aware that some demons, harboring impure intentions, had gone to the Human Realm.
‘……But dealing with that is something Lady Jerena must handle herself.’
Survival of the fittest was the fundamental order of the Demon Realm.
No matter how loyal Illay was, he had no right to stand in the way of demons challenging a weakened Demon King.
Unless they did it openly while he was by her side.
One fortunate thing, at least, was that there were quite a few strong humans by Jerena’s side in the Human Realm.
Unless something truly extraordinary happened, she would not be in danger.
‘Still, it’s finally coming to an end…….’
Illay looked down at the documents in his hand.
It was a list of children among the hybrids created over the past nearly ten years who had lost their human parents and had nowhere to go.
He had already identified all the demons who would become the other parents of these children.
Now, if he could just find the information on the child Jerena had personally rescued, everything would be finished.
‘I’m finally escaping this overtime hell.’
Seeing Illay staring at the documents, his aide secretly wiped away tears.
He felt like he could never do this kind of backbreaking labor again.
If he had to go through something like this one more time, he was sure he would die young, not even reaching half the average demon lifespan, he grumbled inwardly.
‘Ah, seriously, today I’m going to go straight home and do absolutely nothing.’
The aide harbored a quiet but grand ambition.
Today!
No matter what happened, he would leave work on time!
He would enjoy the night with a drink in hand!
‘Lord Illay even promised he wouldn’t bother me today!’
‘So unless the Demon King herself comes back, no one can stop me!’
He had briefly entertained a worrying thought earlier…… but Lord Illay had said that Demon King was not coming back!
So today, no one could touch him!
Rejoicing inwardly, he quietly followed behind his superior standing in front of the conference room door.
His steps felt unusually light today.
At least, until they reached the conference room.
“……? Why aren’t you going in?”
Seeing his superior open the door but not step inside for quite some time, the aide glanced past his shoulder into the conference room.
And then he froze.
Seats resembling a tribunal’s jury benches filled both walls of the spacious conference room.
Walking straight down the carpet that ran proudly through the center, directly ahead upon opening the door, stood the throne.
The throne that only the Demon King was allowed to sit on.
That itself was not the problem.
The problem was that someone was sitting on the throne that was supposed to be empty.
“Demon King……?”
“D-Demon King?”
The Demon King, seen after a very long time, still looked beautiful and powerful.
Contrary to Illay’s words that she was recuperating in the Human Realm due to illness, her complexion looked healthy…….
‘Is she smiling?’
Jerena greeted Illay and his aide, who stood in the doorway, with a gentle smile.
“Hello, Illay.”
“And hello to you as well.”
It was not a smile that suggested anything good was about to happen.
The aide thought to himself,
‘Huh, what is this sound.’
It was the sound of his leaving-work-on-time dream drifting far, far away.
***
When the demons saw me return to the Demon King’s Castle, they could not hide their shock.
Those who had been lying in wait for a chance to usurp the throne, or those who had tried to install a new king, would be flustered, and those who believed I was dead would surely look stunned.
I walked forward without sparing even a glance, despite hearing the murmuring voices of my retainers.
‘By now, they’re probably gathered for a meeting.’
With me gone, Tipati would obviously not bother hosting anything.
So there was only one place for me to head to in the Demon King’s Castle.
‘Yes, that will do.’
If I sat there the moment I returned, the demons would have no choice but to deeply recognize that the “Demon King” had come back.
I strode confidently along the long carpet.
In the Demon Realm, only I am allowed to sit on this chair.
‘…….’
I could feel the assembled retainers holding their breath as they watched me.
Ignoring them, I sat down on the throne.
It felt as though it had been a very long time since I last sat here.
The cold temperature of the metal decorating the armrests touched my arms.
It felt as though it represented the sensation of walking on thin ice.
“D-Demon King, where on earth have you been all this time…….”
One of the demons, unable to read the room any longer, finally spoke to me.
I slightly lowered my head and quietly rolled my eyes to look at him.
“I do not recall granting you permission to speak.”
When I rebuked him in a calm voice, I saw his shoulders flinch.
I remembered him as a demon of fairly high rank in the ceremonial order.
After making an example of him simply for speaking first, the atmosphere in the conference room became deathly quiet, as if cold water had been poured over it.
Such uncomfortable silence was sometimes necessary to maintain authority.
Creeeak…….
It was not long after that atmosphere settled in that the conference room door quietly opened.
The seats prepared inside the room were almost completely filled.
Among the few remaining seats, the one closest to my throne was empty, and I knew its owner all too well.
“Demon King……?”
Just as expected, Illay, who had stood there blankly even after opening the door, called out to me.
My loyal retainer.
I smiled faintly at Illay and welcomed both him and his aide.
“Come in.”
“Now that everyone is here, let us begin the meeting.”
