âThe South-North Union was pretending to save the Doran villagers from the Blue Lughs, who had turned violent, but they were actually controlling the Blue Lughs from the shadows and causing the problemsâŠâ
Raon rolled his eyes as he continued his story, examining Glennâs expression.
âWhat does that mean?â
His neck and shoulders were slightly crouched, his frowning eyes were shivering, and the corners of his lips were twitching like an earthquake.
He wasnât smiling nor crying, nor was he exactly angry. The atmosphere and pressure around him were as composed as always, but his expression was completely incomprehensible.
âI donât understand why heâs being like that.â
Even though heâd slain the disciples of the leaders of the South-North Union and the White Blood ReligionâTyler and the fourth apostleâand even obtained an item that could recover Rimmerâs condition, Glenn didnât look that happy about it.
âThe face heâs makingâŠâ
Looks like heâs trying to hold in his poop.
Wrathâs round face poked out of the ice flower bracelet.
That expression is the face people make when they strain the sphincter.
He snickered, saying that that was the only explanation for his face.
âHmmâŠâ
Raon silently groaned. He didnât think that he was trying to hold in his bodily functions, but he did seem to be trying to hold something in.
He canât even properly control the physiological phenomena. I knew he wasnât a match for the King of Essence. He should be an easy kill after around a few tens of thousands of strikes.
Wrath shook his hand, saying that the outcome was quite obvious.
âDidnât you say thousands of strikes before?â
Raon clearly remembered him saying thousands of strikes when he first saw Glenn, yet it had changed to tens of thousands of strikes.
Easy kill after tens of thousands of strikes. It was such a strange thing to say, which was a result of his always honest personality and the way he loved to brag as the monarch of Devildom.
âI promised to fight the Axe King Roman to death in three years in order to save the Light Wind squad and escape the situation. After that, I went to Lohengreenâs dungeon in order to save our squad leaderâŠâ
Once he started talking about Lohengreenâs dungeon, the trembling in Glennâs eyes and mouth intensified even further. It almost looked like someone was grabbing his skin from the side to shake him.
The fortunate part was the fact that he was the only person who could see Glennâs expression, since everyone else was looking at him. He honestly wanted to signal him to control his expression.
âPfft.â
Rimmerâs laughter could be heard. He mustâve also realized the situation.
It must be really urgent. You should make it short.
âYouâre right.â
Raon slightly nodded and started talking faster. With the faster speed, Glennâs expression of holding something back seemed to relax a little.
ââŠThatâs how I managed to obtain the artificial energy center and elixir from Lohengreenâs dungeon.â
Glennâs expression returned to his usual cold face as soon as Raon finished the story. The twitching of his mouth and the flaring of his nostrils were completely gone.
âHe managed to slay the disciple of the South-North Unionâs leader, and the White Blood Religionâs leaderâŠâ
âBut they are both stronger than the Light Wind squadâs vice leader. How is that even possible?â
âEven though it was a surprise attack, thatâs an amazing achievement.â
âHow is he winning against someone stronger than him every single time? He must be blessed by the god of war.â
âDoing it once is a coincidence, and twice can be luck. However, doing it three times is the result of his skills. Itâs more reasonable to conclude that something allows the Light Windâs vice squad leader to defeat someone stronger than him.â
The division leaders and squad leaders spoke to each other with faces full of surprise.
âSince heâs slain two officers from the Five Demonsâwho also happened to be successorsâand even squashed the evil deeds of the South-North Union, he deserves to receive a golden tablet.â
âIsnât this the first time anyone ever received two golden tablets in a row?â
âThereâs nothing strange about it, considering the achievement.â
âHe became a Master at eighteen years of age and even has two golden tablets⊠Iâm afraid of what he will become in the future.â
âRather than that, Iâm more jealous of the fellowship inside the Light Wind squad. He immediately went to the dungeon as soon as he found out Sir Rimmer was injured. No one else wouldâve done that unless their family was injured.â
âHaa, I shouldâve brought him to my side no matter what.â
The division leaders and squad leaders standing on the sides were exclaiming at his amazing achievement. Many of them were saying that they envied Rimmer for being blessed with nice subordinates.
âTsk!â
âDamn itâŠâ
âHe only managed to kill the fourth apostle through a surprise attack. Thatâs not a big deal.â
âHeâs going to be dead anyway in three years. Donât mind him.â
Since the Central Martial Palace master Karoon and the True Martial Palace Master Balderâwho usually started quarrelsâwere absent, the members of the direct lines couldnât talk back to him directly. They just degraded him behind his back and blabbered some nasty things, claiming that he wouldnât live long.
âRaon Zieghart.â
Glenn called out to him in a low voice, and all the babbling inside the audience chamber disappeared at once. He bobbed his chin while looking at him coldly, just like any other time.
âI just have one question.â
âOkay.â
âItâs about the duel to death against the Axe King in three years. Are you confident about winning?â
âOf course I am. Iâm never going to disgrace Zieghartâs name.â
Raon firmly replied, without the slightest hint of hesitation.
âHah, I see.â
Glenn smiled faintly and nodded. He looked rather disinterested in it, but he also looked like he might believe.
âCome up here.â
âYes.â
Raon climbed the stairs to reach him. Even the stairs felt like they were reflecting Glennâs dignity.
âIn regard to your excellent accomplishment during the mission, and the courageous decision to conquer a dungeon in order to save the Light Wind squad leader, Iâll bestow upon you a golden tablet and a pyroxene necklace.â
Glenn gestured with his hand, and Roenn came up to him while carrying the golden tablet and the pyroxene necklace on a white plate.
âThank you.â
Raon took a step forward and knelt.
âGood⊠Ahem! Good job.â
Glennâs hand holding the golden tablet and the necklace started to tremble after he saw Raonâs face. He bestowed the tablet and the necklace on him with the strange expression he had before.
âHeâs so strangeâŠâ
Raon couldnât understand at all why Glenn was acting like that.
âLight Wind squadâs team leaders, come forth.â
After giving him the tablet and the necklace, Glennâs expression instantly returned to normal, and he called the team leaders of the Light Wind squad forward.
He bestowed a bronze tablet to each of the team leaders for leading their teams to complete the mission to save Rimmer.
âThank you!â
Burren, Martha, and Runaan awkwardly accepted the tablets. They mustâve not expected to be rewarded for that.
âEveryone did a great job. The Light Wind squad should rest now and wait for the next mission.â
âYes!â
âThatâs it.â
He shook his hand, as if he were telling them to go away already.
âVice squad leader Raon, how about visiting our training ground to have a spar?â
âAs for me, I want to drink with you. I want to listen to the story about Lohengreenâs dungeon in more detail.â
âIâm fine with training exchanges, so just contact me anytime you want to.â
Division leaders and squad leaders came up to them with a smile. Most of them were those who were trying to recruit him before.
âYes, sure.â
Raon nodded, since there was no demerit in getting closer to the division leaders.
âLook at him boast when he only killed him through a surprise attackâŠâ
âHow unsightly.â
âHeâs going to lose to the Axe King in three years anyway. Leave him alone.â
The members of the direct line looked at Raon sideways with narrowed eyes as they left. They were pretty much cursing him to die.
Raon smiled slyly while watching them leave the audience chamber.
âYou wonât be able to talk behind my back for much longer.â
He would soon be able to make them shut their mouths, just like he made the swordsmen fall on their asses. He grasped the tablet while remembering every single face of the members of the direct line.
âWhy are you not leaving?â
Glenn tilted his head as he saw Raon and the Light Wind squad staying in place instead of leaving. The Light Wind squad was unable to leave because Raon wasnât moving.
âI have a request.â
Raon went on his knee once again and lowered his head.
âIâm listening.â
âThe Light Wind squad leader is planning to completely shatter his fissured energy center to use the artificial energy center instead. Since itâs going to take a pretty long time to gather enough aura to fight, Iâd like to be the squad leader in his stead in the meantime.â
âWhy are you saying that?â
Rimmer crawled up to Raon on his knees. He mustâve been really confused.
âI know being the squad leader takes lots of your time and places a heavy burden on you. You should focus on recovering your body for a while, squad leader.â
âKuh, Raon!â
His exclamation sounded like he just drank some beer. He mustâve been really impressed.
ââŠThatâs true. Iâll allow it.â
Glenn narrowed his eyes and nodded. Even though he was allowing it, he didnât look like he was too happy about it.
âI have one more request.â
Raon looked up to Glenn white staying on the ground.
âEver since my childhood, I suffered from the Curse of Frost, which made all my mana circuits freeze up. I have managed to overcome it now. Since the Light Wind squad leaderâs symptoms are similar to mine, Iâd like to oversee his rehabilitation.â
âHmmâŠâ
Glenn scratched his chin. The way he furrowed his brows looked like he was even more dissatisfied, but he nodded his head eventually.
âFine. You shall do that.â
âThank you.â
Raon bowed to Glenn.
âRaon! You are the only one who cares about me so much!â
Rimmer was moved to tears, but it was too early to celebrate. Raon was indeed planning to help him, but he was also going to make him suffer to the point that heâd wish he were dead.
âSmile while you still can.â
âŠAre you a loan shark or something?
* * *
Reaper Scans
[Translator â Kyangi]
[Proofreader â Harley]
Join our discord for updates on releases! https://dsc.gg/reapercomics
* * *
Although everyone else from the Light Wind squad had left, Rimmer remained in the audience chamber.
âYou were helped by the children instead of helping them. How pathetic.â
Glenn snorted while looking down at Rimmer.
âYou shouldnât call yourself Zieghart's Sword of Light anymore.â
âHaa! You should mind your own business.â
Rimmer ignored Glennâs mockery and sighed deeply.
âH-How dare you!â
âYour expression!â
He briskly stood up and put his hand on the sides of his mouth and eyes.
âMy lord, did you realize your lips and eyes were shaking like a flyâs wings because you couldnât hold back your smile when you were listening to Raonâs story?â
âUhhâŠâ
âYou looked exactly like this.â
Rimmer made the face Glenn had when he was looking at Raon, showing him directly.
âTh-Thereâs no way I made an expression like that!â
âIt was actually even worse! I thought you were holding back your poop!â
He frowned, sounding like Wrath.
âDo you understand why you ended up making that expression? Itâs because youâve reached your limit.â
âLimit?ââ
âItâs because you are reluctantly holding yourself back even though you are full of love towards your grandson. Thatâs why you made a weird face like that. Raon mustâve been completely shocked. Be honest, did you want to hug him while telling him he did a good job when you were giving him the golden tablet?â
âUhhâŠâ
Glennâs eyes widened with trembling lips. He must have hit the crux of the matter dead-on.
âThatâs why I kept telling you that you will become a patient if you are too patient with it. You should just tell him about it now. âOh, my grandson is back! My kitten! Come here and sit on grandpa's knee!ââthatâs what you should tell him.â
Rimmer grinned once again while making the strange expression that Glenn had made.
âRimmerâŠâ
âAhaha! D-Did I go too far?â
Rimmer scratched the back of his head upon noticing the spark on Glennâs hand.
âAnyway, what Iâm trying to say is that you should just show him how much you care about him instead of taking care of him from behind the scenes.â
He sighed and looked at Roenn.
âThe pyroxene necklace he gave to Raon, it must not be an ordinary item, right?â
A pyroxene necklace was capable of protecting the body, but there was no way Glenn wouldâve gifted such an average item to Raon.
âI wonder.â
Roenn shrugged after taking a glance at Glenn. His reaction was enough to conclude that Raonâs necklace had some kind of special ability.
âI knew it! Thatâs why I told you to stop helping him from the shadows and just straight up open the treasury for him! And appoint him as the successor! You know! Eat together with him! And help him in various ways! Well, letâs start with the way you speak. Repeat after me! My kittenâŠâ
âHaaâŠâ
Alongside the quiet sound of his breathing, the throneâs armrest was crushed.
âUhhâŠâ
Rimmer swallowed nervously as he saw the red sparks spreading all around the audience chamber.
âM-My lord? You shouldnât do this right now. Iâm a patientâŠâ
âDonât worry. I can easily engrave pain into you without affecting your mana circuits and energy center.â
âW-Wait! Thereâs no waâŠKuaaah!â
The moment the red lighting fell upon Rimmer, his scream echoed throughout the lordâs manor, which hadnât happened in a while.
* * *
Raon lined the Light Wind members up in front of the Lordâs manor. His lips slowly parted, as he met the anticipatory gazes of the swordsmen.
âAs youâve heard, Iâm going to be the temporary replacement for the squad leader starting from today. Iâll be supervising both your training and rest.â
Every member of the Light Wind squad swallowed nervously upon hearing him.
âSince you worked so hard, you should rest for today and come to the training ground before tomorrow at daybreak.â
âT-Today? Just today?â
âYou bastard! Are you trying to kill us?â
âAhâŠâ
Burren grasped his chest with trembling hands, Martha grabbed him by his collar, and Runaan stared into the thin air with vacant eyes.
âOne day of rest is too short!â
âEven Sir Rimmer wasnât as bad as you!â
âH-He mustâve gone nuts!â
Their lips were trembling in despair.
âI-Itâs not even a day of rest, since the sun is already setting! We are really going to die at this rate!â
Dorian anxiously rubbed his belly pocket as he shook his head.
âHeâs right! Give us some time to at least relieve our exhaustion!â
âI feel like Iâm going to collapse right nowâŠâ
âJ-Just give us one more day, please.â
âAlright, Iâll be generous this time.â
Raon nodded when Burren asked him to give one more day.
âSince you are so desperate, Iâll give you one more day.â
âWooow!â
âWe can rest one more day!â
âHe finally listened to our opinion!â
The Light Wind squad cheered in joy, even though they only had an extra day of rest.
âCome to the training ground before daybreak in two days then. Dismissed.â
Raon turned around while listening to the Light Wind squadâs cheers.
âIt went as I planned. I was planning to give them two days to begin with.â
Long and painful training required an adequate amount of rest. He figured that they would ask for more if he gave them two days, so he decided to start by giving them a single day. It became two days in the end, and they were also happy about it.
You nasty bastard.
Wrath rose on the ice flower bracelet and furrowed his brows.
You are the nastiest human that the King of Essence has ever seen. You are the definition of a demon in a human body!
âAre you complimenting me?â
Iâm not!
âBut this worked out great. Since they were going to get the same amount of holiday anyway, I might as well make them happy, since that also makes me happy.â
Raon grinned and turned around. While everyone was scattering in different directions, Burren was the only person talking to someone in front of the Lordâs manor.
âThat person⊠I saw him in the audience chamber, I think.â
He hadnât said a single thing, even though he was alongside the direct line division leaders. Raon noticed that he looked very similar to Burren.
âHe must be his brother.â
Raon could ascertain it once he noticed the dark blue hair, eyes that looked slightly ferocious, and the fine sword hanging around his waist.
He mustâve been Burrenâs second oldest brotherâGelmia, the leader of the Severing Steeds squad.
Judging from the faint smile on Burrenâs face, he didnât seem to be getting scolded or arguing with him.
âIt looks like he is getting along with his brother at least.â
Unlike the trashy Karoon, his brother Gelmia seemed to be on good terms with Burren.
Raon watched Burren and Gelmia before heading to the annex building.
* * *
Raon smiled as he passed across the annex buildingâs garden. It was mysterious how he felt so comfortable whenever he passed the area. It almost felt like the accumulated fatigue from everything that happened was being washed away.
âPeople said they loved to be at home.â
He couldnât understand it in his previous life, but he finally understood. Having a precious home was bound to bring a smile to peopleâs faces when they returned.
Hnng!
Wrath was moving his shoulder up and down while humming cheerfully.
âWhy do you look so happy?â
We are finally home. The scent Iâm smelling from all the way over here tells me that Pineapple Girl mustâve prepared some delicious food.
âHome⊠Is this really your home?â
It was ridiculous that someone who called himself a demon king was calling the annex building his home.
âHeâs pretty much human now.â
Raon shook his head and opened the door to the annex building. Then he froze.
âHuh?â
Someone who shouldnât have been there was standing in the lobby, wearing a maid outfit.