Chapter 29

Chapter 29

Valen stood up without a word. Enrit called out to him in a rueful, asking if he was leaving already, but he couldn’t stop him.

“…Open the door.”

The door was closed in his face.

***

“A toast to the hidden star of today’s party, No. 38!”

Seinrich led the toast with a hearty voice. The demons cheered loudly and raised their glasses, and soon lively music filled the tavern. Someone, caught up in the excitement, climbed onto a table and sang with a high-pitched voice.

Valen sat at a single-person table, rubbing his forehead.

“Da~mn. It’s so chaotic.”

He had hoped to quietly enjoy a drink. However, he didn’t expect a party held in the castle to have such a free-spirited atmosphere.

What were the royal banquets Valen had attended like? They danced gracefully to the dignified melodies of an orchestra, ensuring not to breach decorum, and held delicate champagne or wine glasses instead of oversized beer mugs.

However, here, decorum seemed to have died as everyone was busy laughing and chatting without a care. There was even someone showing off by downing an entire drink in one go. It was Enrit.

If he kept drinking like that, he wouldn’t be able to get up tomorrow due to a hangover. If the quality of the food dropped even slightly, he would have to bring out the club after a long time…

“Why am I even worrying about this sh!t?”

He wasn’t even Enrit’s superior. Suddenly, a wave of self-reproach washed over him.

“What? You’ve already finished your drink. I guess I need to refill it.”

A demon resembling a hippopotamus poured the red liquor generously. She was the tavern manager, but what was her name again? Laila?

Valen downed the refilled glass in one go. Watching his throat move continuously, Laila whistled in admiration.

“You drink well!”

Laila added a hearty compliment as she refilled the glass again.

How can everything feel so friendly, warm, and devoid of hierarchy? The prejudices he had believed to be true were shattered and lay scattered on the ground.

Seeing the servants in the Demon King’s castle assert their rightful claims reminded him of Ben from the mansion. He couldn’t help but compare the treatment of the soldiers here compared to the human soldiers who were dragged to the slaughterhouse.

Valen repeatedly emptied the glass in front of him.

Everything he built as the leader of the allied forces and as a hero felt all for nothing. While the human world spent countless nights devising strategies for the war against the demons, here, they didn’t even bother to worry. Yet, humans repeatedly lost due to the stark difference in power.

It was like crushing a fly with one’s hand—overwhelming force was all it took. From the start… it was a fight they couldn’t win. Valen felt a profound sense of defeat today, one he had never experienced even during his numerous battles against the demons.

Humans can never defeat the demons.

“Aren’t you drinking too much?”

Zephyr, reeking of alcohol, sat down next to Valen. Laila poured a full glass of liquor and placed it in front of Zephyr. Winking with one eye, Zephyr took a sip.

“Mind your own business.”

“Let me know when you’re heading back. Lady Argen went to bed early today, so I’ll take responsibility and open the door for you, whether it’s to the bedroom or the bathroom.”

Again, and again, Argen…

“Even these as8h0les know Argen’s schedule inside out.”

Except for him.

Valen muttered under his breath. Zephyr, unintentionally overhearing his thoughts, laughed heartily from his belly.

“There’s nothing I don’t know about Lady Argen. I even changed her diapers when she was a baby.”

A vein bulged on Valen’s forehead. ‘What a perverted bastard. He saw the little Argen naked? Sh-!t it, does Argen know that her subordinate is a vulgar guy whose brain is soaked in filth? Of course, she doesn’t.’

Even when he embraced her slyly, Argen would innocently and willingly entrust her body to him. Valen twisted his lips into a sneer and shook his head.

“Haha! You have no idea. Do you know how adorably devilish Lady Argen looks when she sleeps? She curls her little hands like this, like this. Look, just look, will you?”

“Stop ruining my drink and get lost.”

“Neither I, Nadol, nor Finn could wake her, even if we took turns poking her hands with our fingers. Once she falls asleep, she wouldn’t notice even if the Demon King’s castle collapsed.”

“You sure do all sorts of sh!t to a sleeping child.”

“Huh?”

“I know she’s a heavy sleeper too, so stop babbling.”

“Really? Then do you know this?”

Zephyr, his voice thick with drunkenness, began speaking cheerfully. Valen continued to drink without looking at Zephyr beside him. He tried to ignore him, but Zephyr’s voice, as loud as a train whistle, hit his eardrums directly.

“Lady Argen can sleep all day without eating if she doesn’t have any scheduled tasks or if no one forces her to wake up! Hahaha!”

“Even when she wakes up, she’s always groggy. Even when the artificial sun has been up for a long time.”

“Ah, did you know that Lady Argen’s right and left eyelids are slightly different? She fell down the stairs when she was a baby. Since her self-healing was slow at that time, she ended up with a scar.”

“I noticed her right eye closes a bit more when she frowns. It must be because of the scar.”

“Oh, really? I didn’t know that.”

Valen chuckled and tapped the table. Laila brought over a bottle of liquor and set it down with a thud.

“Make sure to eat some snacks while you drink.”

Valen poured the liquor without responding.

“She doesn’t frown in front of me often.”

Slip.

“Are you drunk? Where are you pouring the liquor? Good grief.”

Laila took the bottle from him and handed him a napkin after pulling out several.

Valen turned his head, feeling a stiffness in the back of his neck. Zephyr had a thoughtful expression, as if recalling something.

“A frowning face… I can’t imagine it at all. I can only picture a smiling face.”

“Is that so?”

“You wouldn’t know, but Lady Argen, despite seeming indifferent on the outside, is actually very affectionate.”

This is annoying.

Valen rubbed his neck vigorously. If he were to ask himself what was annoying, he would answer everything. If he had to pick one thing… it would be the part where Zephyr said, “You wouldn’t know.”

What did he care about the nature of the demon who had violated him?

“She’s self-sacrificing to a foolish degree.”

“I don’t know about self-sacrificing, but foolish, yes. Especially when she drank a potion that made her grow leg hair, thinking I would like it.”

“…Lady Argen drank a potion?”

“You act like you know everything, but you didn’t know that?”

For the first time, Zephyr, who had been speaking so boisterously, looked flustered. In contrast, a slight smile appeared on Valen’s lips.

“Lady Argen was born without horns. Humans might not understand, but for us, horns are a part of our body. Just like how missing an arm would cause inconvenience, the same goes for horns.”

“What do horns do?”

“Horns are very important. They generate immunity to demonic energy. Everything that uses magic involves demonic energy. If you have horns, there’s no problem even if you’re attacked by magic or drink a potion. But someone like Lady Argen, who can’t detoxify demonic energy, would find it difficult. And yet, she drank a potion just for leg hair…”

“I understand why she didn’t attend the party today,” Zephyr muttered with a look of regret. Valen slowly rubbed his lips.

He had unexpectedly gained information about the demons’ horns. But what concerned him more was Argen.

“So she drank the potion knowing the side effects…”

“I told you, Lady Argen is self-sacrificing…”

“It’s different.”

“Huh? What’s different?”

Valen lowered his head as if he had realized something. Then he raised only his right hand and extended it towards Zephyr.

“That’s pretty. Do you want me to hold it?”

As soon as Zephyr grabbed it, Valen roughly pulled it away and lifted his face sharply.

“It’s a hand that can’t be healed anymore, but your precious Lady Argen bandaged it after seeing the scar.”

“…And?”

“It’s not just that. I’m not No. 36 or 37, but No. 38. She chose me over the previous thirty-seven.”

“Hmm… That’s right.”

“A demon who loves sleep so much gave it up to spend time with me.”

“…What are you trying to say?”

‘I don’t know. As we kept talking about Argen, my mind felt completely filled with thoughts of her.’ A certain idea began to take root.