Translated: Sei, MTL-sensei-tachi
Edited: Sei, Grammarly no Danna
Source: Syosetu

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A Quiet Story: The Demon King's "Request" Part 1


"Ciel, I have a favor to ask you. Will you listen to me?"

　It was shortly after the return of the Demon King's army.
　Demon King-sama said that to me, who was the Demon King-sama's maid.
　The location is on top of a castle overlooking the castle town, but the unexpected words of Demon King-sama made me think for a moment that my ears had gone crazy.

"Eh? Demon King-sama, what did you just say?"
"A favor to you. In other words, I asked you to do me a favor."

　Demon King-sama asked me to do something for him?
　Currently, Demon King-sama, who has used up a huge amount of his magical power, is living with the least amount of power that he had exerted on the Demon King's territory in order to recover from that.
　Perhaps because of that, Demon King-sama's range of activities has expanded from the castle's halls to outside, and he now walks outside more than before.
　But a request from Demon King-sama.
　And it was practically an order disguised as a mischievous "favor."
　Wondering what unreasonable orders would come my way, I secretly made up my mind to write a will to my mother, with whom I had had a quarrel in my hometown.

"I don't know why you look so deathly afraid, but it's not that difficult."
"Eh?"
"Can you head over to this place now?"

　Demon King-sama took out a map from the magic circle floating in space and showed it to me.
　There is a detailed map of the demon king's territory and a red marker on it.

"Uhm, where is this?"
"This is where our army used to have its stronghold. I want you to check this place out a little bit."

　From the looks of it, it is in a moderately remote location.
　However, it was a request from Demon King-sama. There was no way I could refuse.
　As his maid, I serve closest to him and I can tell that Demon King-sama is not aware that he is giving orders.
　It is simply because he trusts me, that he is asking me to do it, this is bad.

"Why me? I'm just a maid..."
"Fumu. There's also the fact that I trust you. I would like to hear your perspective about "that place". ...Don't worry, I'll get you an escort."
"Haa..."

　My heart flutters for a moment when I hear that he trusts me, but the way he says it, somewhat implicitly, makes me uneasy.

"Demon King-sama, did you call for me?"

　Then, another person other than us appears in the fortress.
　When I turned around, there he was, a silver-haired demon, Koga Dingal-san, the commander of the Second Corps.
　I had heard that he had lost his left arm in the battle, but he was raising his left arm, supposedly not in a casual manner.

"Koga. Is your left arm all right?"
"It's not a problem at all. In fact, I even feel more comfortable with my magic than before."

　The blackened left arm of Commander Koga transforms and wriggles like a living creature, turning into a sharp blade.
　I realize that his arms are not the real ones, but made by dark magic, and I involuntarily think, "Ugh," but he doesn't even bother to worry about it, and smiles happily.

"So, why was I summoned here?"
"I wanted to ask you to escort my maid."
"Escort? Going somewhere?"
"Uhm, this is the place, apparently."

　Commander Koga looks at the map in my hand.
　Demon King-sama spoke to Koga, who nodded with interest.

"Now that we're reorganizing the army, you're probably bored, aren't you? It is more convenient for us to keep you moving than to let you rot here. Besides"

　Once Demon King-sama cut off his words, he looked at Commander Koga and twisted the corner of his mouth in a small smile.

"Where you are going as an escort, things might get interesting for you, you know?"
"... Demon King-sama is really good at getting people on board. I accept the assignment of an escort.

　Commander Koga receives an escort mission with a dangerous smile.
　Demon King-sama seems satisfied, but as for me, I'm honestly afraid of Commander Koga.
　After all, he was famous for not doing his job, and it was rumored that he had been in a fistfight on the battlefield with a dangerous healing magician named Usato of "Rescue Squad", while laughing.

"Then I leave it to you. You may increase the number of guards. I leave it to your discretion."
"Leave it to me"

　After saying that much, Demon King-sama returned to the castle, leaving Koga and I on the spot.
　While I am freaked out, I look at Commander Koga, who is smiling at the castle town.

"U-Uhm, Commander Koga..."
"Hmm? Yeah, you're not my subordinate, and you're Demon King-sama's important maid. You can call me Koga if you want."
"S-So, Koga-san. What are we going to do now? Are we leaving right away?"

　In response to my question, Commander Koga ——— No, Koga-san crosses his arms as if pondering.

"Well, we can leave right away, but first I'll try to invite someone I can take with me. I'm sure I'll be enough of an escort, but you never know what might happen."
"..."

　I am genuinely surprised that he thinks it through surprisingly well.
　Although he is younger than me in terms of age, he seems to be more solid than I had heard.

"First of all, it's obvious that the Demon King-sama is expecting something to happen when he assigns me, the corps leader, as an escort. If that's the case, I should bring someone of my worth to escort."
"W-Who?"
"I'm not sure about Amira ... she started training with old man Nero as soon as she got back. If she can't ..., then old man Gillette, who seems to be relatively free and can fight well ..., is also no good. If that guy goes away, the demon army will fall apart."

　After thinking about it for a few seconds, Koga-san made a surprised face.
　His expression was that of a child of his age, which changed my impression of him just a little.

"All right, let's go now."
"Eh, ah, wait a minute"

　Koga-san immediately acts on his ideas.
　I followed Koga-san while wondering who he would ask for an escort.

●

　The place where Koga-san headed was the soldier's quarters outside the castle.
　At present, wounded soldiers are being treated and their respective units are being rebuilt, and even here, where the soldiers live, the streets are less crowded.

"The old man Gillette is taking the lead in rebuilding the army, but ... I wonder how long it will take. At least, it seems that Demon King-sama is thinking of organizing an intercepting force, not a marching force. As a maid, have you heard anything about that?"
"No, in my position, I don't hear many of those talks."

　I look at Koga-san as we walk between the quarters, which were built for different units.
　In fact, I have been concerned about a "healing magician" who has been rumored among the demon king's army for some time.
　I cannot confirm whether it is a lie or not, because I am a maid who does not go to battle, but if he has actually met and fought, he might be able to tell me a story.
　With that in mind, I mustered up a little courage and decided to ask Koga-san about the healing magician of the Lingle Kingdom.

"Uhm, Koga-san."
"Hmm? What? Etto..."
"Ah, I'm Ciel. I was wondering about the rumor about the healing magician circulating in the demon king's territory... is that a true story?"
"Oh, it's true."

　I-It was easily affirmed.
　As my cheeks twitch, Koga-san squints his eyes happily and goes on to talk about healing magicians on his own.

"That guy. He's really a dangerous guy. Even though he is a healing magician, he also tries to engage me in a physical battle. The first time we fought, he used a shockwave with his healing magic, based on some incomprehensible principle."
"Shockwave with healing magic?"
"I found out afterwards that I didn't expect it to be the impact of a deliberate outburst of system strengthening."
"Outburst of system strengthening?"
"Well, he was pretty good even before he used it. I was wearing dark magic, and he was hitting me at close range. Well~, it was really fun at that time."

　Wait, I can't keep up with understanding.
　Eh? Human? We're talking about human being, right?

"And the next time we fought, he assimilated my former subordinate."
"Assimilated?"
"To put it another way, it's a combination. He had taken in the power of dark magic, and his entire body was bursting with magic power from all over. I have to admit, the kick he gave me almost knocked me unconscious with a single blow."
"Taking in dark magic?"

　Where is the healing magic element?
　It's no use. I can't picture that healing magician as a human being from what I've heard.
　The image of something that has a three-meter-tall, muscular, human-shaped is fixed in my mind.

"I heard he did a lot of things after he fought me, but, well, I guess most of them are true."
"Like tentacles, devil's wings, or even riding on the back of a blue grizzly that turned into a chariot and trampling monsters...?"
"I ain't seen it, but I'm sure it's true. I think it's less likely to be true than not. In his case."

　It's an amazing trust.
　I wonder, if there is something more than a completely hostile opponent when Koga-san speaks about him.

"Well, some of the people have been traumatized by that guy ...... Usato in many ways. Like, he knocked off the flying dragon, or he grabbed an arrow I fired at point-blank range, and then knocked it down, and this time alone, he's been on quite a rampage."
"Even though he's your enemy, you talk happily about him."

　The opponent, like the hero, is an existence that opposes the demon race.
　When Koga-san said happily about it, I ended up saying something a little bit harsh.

"He's my favorite opponent. The stronger he gets, the stronger I get. Well, it may be annoying to him, but we are enemies, so I don't care."
"..."
"Oi, wait, stop blatantly distancing yourself from me."

　I pulled back normally.
　I felt a little sympathy for the healing magician named Usato, even though he was an enemy.

"Returning to the topic, it's about trauma... There is one person in there who is particularly bad. I mean, she's the head of our Third Corps."
"Eh, is it Hannah-sama!?"

　Hannah Lomia.
　A woman who is the newly appointed Commander of the Third Corps and a user of illusion magic.
　A person skilled in the art of entrapment and wisdom, when I met her in front of the Demon King-sama, she was someone I thought was both cool and a little scary at the same time.

"Well, she got carried away and tried to cast an illusion on Usato. But for some reason, it seems that the illusion didn't work on him, so instead, she got startled and caught by him."
"..."
"Hahaha, it's a masterpiece. What is it, resistance to illusions?"

　Isn't he the devil or something already?
　How can one acquire such resistance, such as resistance to illusions?
　Is it that thing? Is it okay if I continue to be shown powerful illusions endlessly? If I did that, it would definitely break my spirit, though.

"So I was wondering if I could take Hannah with me as an escort."
"...Maybe, the place we're heading to right now is..."
"Hannah's place. Look, it's just coming into view."

　Looking in the direction to which Koga-san points, we see a building one size larger than the quarters of the other soldiers.
　Although somewhat outdated, the exterior itself does not differ from that of the dormitory.
　First, at the door, Koga-san said, "Hannah! It's Koga! Open the door!" and calls out to Hannah-sama, but there is no response.
　So Koga-san tilts his head.

"Hmm? No one replied. Is she in the back?"
"Ah, you shouldn't go off on your own..."

　Not caring, he proceeds to the back of the building.
　Wondering if this quick action and decision-making is the reason why he is the commander of the second corps, I followed him and found a beautifully arranged flower bed at the back of the building.
　And then, I find a woman crouching in one of the flowerbeds with her back turned towards us.

"Fu, fufu, if it's a nutrient-rich soil outside the Demon King's territory, it will grow fine. Fufufufufu."

　There was Hannah-sama, the leader of the third corps, tending the flower beds with a shovel in one hand, while letting out a sinister giggle, as if she was doing a wicked deed.
　It was so different from the image I had of the Commander of the Third Army that not only I, but even Koga-san, was at a loss for words.

"Fufu, hmm? ...Eh?"

　When she finally noticed our presence, she looked at her hand and at us alternately, and her face turned pale at once.
　Seeing that, Koga-san turned a big smile to Hannah-sama while giving a thumbs-up, as if he was trying to be considerate.

"It's surprising, but hey, it's a cute hobby! Un!!"
"Koga-kun...!"
"It's like an old lady! I think it's fine!!"
"..."

　Why did this person make an accurate, exaggerated stab?
　Without saying a word, Hannah-sama generated countless purple magic bullets.
　Koga-san hurriedly added a few words of excuse, a kind of agitation.
　In the face of the flood of magic bullets, my heart was already about to collapse at this point.