The Melancholy of the Demon Army Officer
Translator: Tsukii
Editor: Millinia
Read at Watashi wa Sugoi Desu!
Chapter 22 – Apostle Candidate [B]
As we left the room, I suddenly remembered that I hadn’t eaten anything yet. I could just eat inside the room, but since I thought to introduce her to Galtia, I was about to tell her we would go to the dining room when—
“So we’ll go to the dining room, right! Then I’ll lead you there!”
“…Aah, please do.”
I obviously knew where it was, but that wasn’t what I meant when I responded. When a servant walked with their lord, they would either walk ahead of them or follow them from behind.
She must’ve chosen to walk ahead because of her personality, was what I guessed inwardly.
“Fuhn, fufun, fu-hn.”
She looked very happy as she walked in front of me, one could easily tell from her humming and her overly proud expression. I could see how light her steps were from behind. So much so, she might break out into a light skip if her excitement increased any further.
After a little bit of a walk while following her lead, we reached the dining room.
And as expected, he was there.
“…Hmn, this ohohoufufu1 tempura tastes delicious. This crispy texture and the faint sweetness are exquisite.”
Majin Galtia.
My friend whom I had been together with for over 200 years was sitting there.
There were many dishes placed on the table. It was a never-changing scene whenever he was in Maou Castle.
Since it was a late hour for breakfast, there was nobody around us. Well, that was convenient for me.
“Oou, you’ve com—hm?”
Galtia noticed us as we entered the dining room and turned his eyes toward us. He obviously noticed the girl who walked ahead of me.
I thought it was wrong to wait for him to greet us, so I went ahead and greeted him instead.
“Hey, Galtia.”
“Oo, you’re late today. Who is that woman?”
“She’s—“
“It’s the first time we’ve met! Galtia-sama!”
Before I reached out toward her to introduce her, she jumped ahead and introduced herself.
“I am Battle Notes, who is Leonhart-sama’s apostle… Or at least, I plan to be one! It is nice to meet you!”
“…Hm, ooh. Nice to meet you too.”
It was a very straightforward self-introduction she gave to a majin, but Galtia didn’t seem to be surprised and he just replied normally. Well, it was Galtia after all.
“Leonhart’s apostle, huh?”
However, it seemed Galtia was also curious, so he asked me with a light tone.
“Did you have a change of heart? I thought you said you had no intention to make one before.”
“Well, I just have some concerns about it. It’s not confirmed yet.”
“I’ll make it into a confirmed fact soon! …Also, Leonhart-sama, what would you like to have for breakfast?”
As she declared her appointment, she also asked me what I wanted for breakfast.
But instead, I pushed the decision to her.
“I’ll leave it to your judgment.”
“Certainly. Please wait for a moment!”
With that said, she sprinted away to the kitchen to tell them the desired menu. A distance opened between us.
Using that chance, I asked Galtia,
“…Well Galtia, what do you think about it?”
“What, you say… about that apostle candidate?”
“Yes, I’m asking for your subjective opinion. Even your first impression is fine. Tell me your thoughts.”
“Ah… well.”
Galtia kept eating as he tilted his head to ponder, his conclusion came soon after.
“Well, isn’t it okay?”
“…You sure acknowledged her quite easily.”
I hoped for him to tell me any concerns he might have so I could make progress toward my decision.
Perhaps he read what was on my mind, and Galita continued to say,
“There’s no meaning for me to give any complaints about it. Since you already approved of her enough to test her like this, it should be alright.
“But…”
“I already told you this before, but you’re thinking too much. Just do what you want for a bit. Since it will be your apostle anyway, wouldn’t it be wrong for anyone to complain about it?”
“…”
This time, Galtia’s word made me ponder. As expected, I couldn’t underestimate his observation skills and he struck directly at the heart of the problem. So much so that it pained me.
Despite that, hearing it wasn’t enough for me to decide. I thought about it for a while longer.
About ten minutes had passed.
She carried a tray as she returned.
“I’m sorry to keep you waiting, Leonhart-sama! Here, have your meal!”
“Since you returned with the dish, does that mean—“
“Yes, I helped cook it. Well, I just instructed the chefs on how to cook it though.”
It seemed that she tried to help them using her battle notes ability, but that was more likely to disturb them than help. Even so, since I told her to think and act by herself, I couldn’t reproach her for it.
Anyway, I have to see what dishes she brought me…
“—!”
I was surprised when I saw them.
Because all the things that were there—all of them were my favorite foods.
I turned to look at her. I asked her, who looked proud of herself,
“…How did you know?”
“Of course I would know! Leonhart-sama’s favorite foods are mainly cockatrice, yakiniku soumen, eel, and spring onion. You also like spicy dishes, prefer rice over bread, and the breakfast must include a mafumafu2. I already researched it!”
It certainly fitted my preferences. It might be quite heavy for a breakfast, but this much should still be alright.
I tried a bite of the mafumafu.
“…! This seasoning… is it different from usual?”
The taste of today’s mafumafu was a little different from the mafumafu the chef usually cooked.
But this was…
“Regarding the mafumafu, I asked the cook to adjust the salt content so you could enjoy the ingredient’s natural flavor a little more. I thought Leonhart-sama would like it more this way, but… how is it?”
“Well, it doesn’t taste bad…”
“Ooh, that sure looks delicious. May I ask for some?”
“Just eat your own food.”
“Eeh…”
I ate my breakfast as Galtia groaned with disappointment. When I cast a sideways glance at her, she had a very proud expression.
The flavor of the food generally matched my personal tastes. Perhaps this was what she meant when she said she gave the chefs instructions.
…Is she actually a capable person…?
I was having such doubts as I ate the delicious breakfast.
After breakfast, I returned to my room with the battle notes and gave her my next instructions.
“…Well then, I’ll have you help me with the paperwork this time.”
“Leave it to me! I’ll do as much as it takes to help Leonhart-sama!”
As expected, she confidently agreed to my orders. If she was indeed a battle notes… though I don’t know if she really was, but since she insisted she was a battle notes, she must’ve been very accustomed with this kind of work. Regardless, even if she was only a commander, she would still have this capability anyway.
I would ask her to do it to the best of her abilities.
I handed some of the paperwork I had on the desk to her. She was slightly depressed as she saw the stack and said,
“…There’s so little.”
“It is because I did most of it yesterday. This is all we have to do today.”
“…To think you still have good work ethics despite being exhausted from returning from the expedition… as expected of Leonhart-sama! I should also follow your example as your apostle!”
“You’re not my apostle, yet.”
“I’ll begin to work right away!”
It seemed she didn’t listen to my words just now. Or was it because she made an appeal that she didn’t hear my word? …Well, whichever the case, it was fine.
She put the document on the table, sat on the sofa, then began to work. Looking at such an appearance, I sat at my desk.
…Indeed, having an apostle to be entrusted with this kind of work sure helps.
For the longest time, that was the very thing I was jealous of Camilla for when I saw how capable Shichisei was at his work.
Besides, befitting my position as the demon army officer, I had a lot of work. But if I had an apostle to help with this administrative work, I would have more free time for myself.
“Leonhart-sama.”
“Ah? What is it?”
When I noticed, she brought me a document with her.
“About this document…”
“Hm? What about this document?”
I thought she had a question about the document so I looked at it. However, unlike my expectation, there wasn’t anything difficult written there.
It was a document requesting for additional supplies to be sent to one of the battlefields. Basically, it was a petition to ask for consent for resupply.
All I had to do was to sign this—ah, now I see. Since it was something I needed to personally sign, it was bad to entrust it to her who wasn’t a formal apostle just yet. She was quite thoughtful.
The contents themselves didn’t seem to be problematic anyway, as I was about to sign the document, she stopped me.
“Please wait a moment, Leonhart-sama.”
“Ahn?”
“I’ll ask you to delay signing this document for now.”
As she said that, I involuntarily frowned.
“…Tell me the reason why.”
There was no way she requested that without any reason whatsoever. Therefore, I asked her.
She began to explain with her usual, energetic ojou-sama tone.3
“Yes! Regarding this battlefront, it’s been an unusual battlefield where the Demon Army is inferior compared to their opponent.”
“…You’re right.”
It was as she just said. Since the battle was prolonged while they stayed inferior, the supplies were likely gone.
Honestly, I would have preferred the Demon Army stationed on this battlefield to withdraw after a while. The Demon Army’s battlefront expanded considerably. I thought it was about time to reduce the consumption and damage by withdrawing from some nations. Only the Demon Army was capable of this after all. If it was a war between humans, they might have pushed the battle all the way to invade enemy nations—but no nation was foolish enough to invade the Demon Army’s territory—since it would only serve as provocation. The difference in armies was clear, so if they did so, only destruction awaited them.
Anyway, there was no reason to attack this location. I was thinking of strategies to suppress the damage from both sides. Therefore, I would use the fact they were inferior as an excuse to have them withdraw. I was personally interested in the fact they could push the Demon Army this far, since it meant there was something there…
However, why did she stop me from giving them supplies? Perhaps she might tell me to command them to make them withdraw now, but I doubted that was the case.
And my thought was correct as expected.
“So let’s just send them reinforcements.”
“…Aah.”
So that was her train of thought. Well, that was a plausible opinion if we aim for victory. I probed her further asking,
“Did you mean to say we should send reinforcements along with the supplies?”
“No, that’s not it.”
“What, so we send them from elsewhere?”
She proceeded to explain to me the same thoughts I had.
“We’ll send a third of the army that attacked the neighboring nation. The army there seems to have leisure to do so.”
“…Well, that’s not a bad move.”
“Also, once we claim this land, we should gain a good amount of supplies.”
“…Hm?”
As I listened to her, I remembered the place she pointed at. If I wasn’t mistaken, that was…
“This is a nation which hasn’t ever been attacked by the Demon Army, it seems.”
“Exactly! It’s akin to a large granary which hasn’t been harvested in recent years, yet it’s still within arm reach! If we don’t attack this land with the intention to harass them like usual, but instead completely claim it, the Demon Army would be powered up4 like never before!”
“You’re right.”
Certainly, the more supplies we had, the better. It was an option for a stable supply.
“And with more supplies, we could send another army to attack the nation in two—no, in three directions!”
“That is also true…”
If we really did that, they might easily fall. The direction of conversation gradually became stranger.
“And on top of that! We could attack the big nation beside it! Since they’d become more troublesome as they gain power, we’d better attack them before they are ready!”
“…”
Huh? The scale of things gradually turned even larger. I personally wanted to avoid attacking that nation.
“The battle was all about defeating the enemy thoroughly by making the first strike! There is also a saying that attack is the best defense!”
“…Do you like to attack?”
“I love it! Attacking, assaults, raids, waterfront operations! Defending doesn’t suit my taste—ah.”
She gushed with such momentum and gleaming eyes, but she soon realized she uttered something she shouldn’t have and a short gasp escaped from her.
“Err, I think defense is also good. It’s just… about attacking, I was more…”
“…No, that’s okay. I also prefer attacking.”
“!”
Her face lit up at my words. What an easy to understand reaction.
“Tha-that’s right! …Ah, but I love defending for the sake of attacking the enemy! It takes no time for the enemy to fall into a trap! It’s always an amazing moment!”
“…You’re right.”
I indeed understood such feelings, but I had different doubts in my mind.
…She’s basically a good girl, but she might be dangerous in a way?
I thought such things, as I listened to how excited she was as she enthusiastically talked about the amazing moment of attack.
By the way, our paperwork didn’t progress much.
T/N:
Well then, since Leonhart already made most of the explanation about battle notes and commander, I will skip it and jump right to the illustration.
Battle Notes: https://i.ibb.co/6bNSC48/Battle-Notes-TTDMM.png
Commander: https://i.ibb.co/Gv6cbXK/Notes-Commander.png
Also, since it got mentioned above, I’ll explain about Dekant for a bit.
Dekant: a powerful species of guy demon. He had the appearance of a dark-skinned, muscular giant, about 3-4 meters tall. Unlike his body size, his genitals were small in comparison, designed so to make copulation with gal demons possible.
Image: https://i.ibb.co/nLFNFNw/Dekant.png
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