The Melancholy of the Demon Army Officer

Translator: Tsukii

Editor: Geli

Read at Watashi wa Sugoi Desu!

Chapter 024 – Loyalty [B]*1

“That is the reason why I always aim to kill the enemy army’s commander. Although, there’s also the fact that I want to fight against strong people…” 

After telling Carol everything, Leonhart opened his eyes and looked at the face of Carol, his apostle. 

Then,

“…I see, so that’s the situation. In that case, I will do my best to help to fulfill Leonhart-sama’s goal!” 

She was still as enthusiastic as she was before. 

As Leonhart continued to look at her, he frowned.

“…Is that all?” 

“Eh?” 

“…You don’t think it’s strange for me to help humans?” 

“Uhm… Let’s see…” 

As Carol heard those words, she understood what her master was getting at and began to ponder. Eventually, her usual expression returned and she gave her reply.  

“I might be a little surprised about that. However, Leonhart-sama is more important to me than the matter of humans or the Demon Army, so there’s no problem about that.” 

“…” 

“The pledge I had given to you back then was not a lie. If Leonhart-sama decides to side with humans, then I will come along as well, and I will fulfill whatever wish Leonhart-sama might have.” 

She boldly declared as such. Her straightforward words made him understand that her words back then weren’t a lie. Leonhart silently listened to Carol’s words. 

“Ah, but, err… I have just one request.” 

“…What is it?” 

Carol seemed to have a hard time speaking, and she looked away in embarrassment. 

However, she decided she had to at least express herself, so she went and spoke her wish to Leonhart.

“Err… if I could help or please Leonhart-sana… then pl-please praise me for it!” 

“…Is that all?” 

Leonhart was astonished at the fact that she was asking for a really simple request. However, it seemed to be important to Carol, and she vehemently nodded as she spoke.  

“That, just that is plenty… If I could be praised by Leonhart-sama, I-I would be happy…” 

“…” 

Carol properly said her embarrassing request. After Leonhart listened to her, he remained silent for a while. It seemed that he was stunned by such a request.  

However, because he understood what she was asking for,

“…Hah, I see.” 

He flashed a quick smile to Carol and moved closer. 

“Le-Leonhart-sama?” 

“—I only need to praise you, right?” 

As he said that he put his hand to Carol’s head. 

“—?!” 

Carol’s body quivered. 

“How about this?” 

Leonhart stroked Carol’s head with his hand. Carol, who only realized what was happening a few seconds later, 

“—Ah, ah, uh, this, Le, on, hart, samaa…!” 

For some reason, her face was flushed and her voice trembled. 

Even as Leonhart noticed that, he continued what he was doing.

“What, does this feel that good? Then I’ll do it a little more.” 

“Ah, not, this, this feels good…” 

He stroked her head more and more. Then Carol’s eyes began to shine with an entranced light. 

However, a few seconds later, as Leonhart was about to take his hand away from Carol’s head, she pushed her head into his hand. Perhaps she still wanted more of his ministrations.

“Mo-more…” 

“Aah? …guess I have no choice.” 

“hn… hmn…” 

When Leonhart touched her head again, she shivered once more. This time, she was already prepared for it, so she didn’t shake as much. 

“Well, today is an exception. Now that it has come to this, I will praise you and stroke your head as much as you like.” 

“Hmn~ haa~ tha-thank, you, very, much…” 

Leonhart noticed that Carol seemed to be repressing something as he saw her enraptured expression. 

However, Leonhart still chose to stroke her head to fulfill his apostle’s request.

He was quite happy that she still showed loyalty to him, even after he revealed his secret. And he could tell how much Carol was enjoying what he was doing right now. Despite that, he chose to let her do as she wished just for today.2

“If you have any request, I’ll do it. So what do you want?” 

“Uh, ah… pra-praise me, more.” 

“Ah~ there, praise you, how?” 

“Ri-right, beside my ear… ple-please, praise me…”

“…Hah, your loyalty is really something, seriously.” 

Even as Leonhart said that, a desire to bully her suddenly burned within him. 

However, he was the one who asked her what she wanted. Therefore, Leonhart tried to fulfill her wish by pulling her head closer and bringing his lips close to her ear.

“Le-Leonhart-sama…” 

“—As expected of my apostle. You’ve done well, Carol.” 

“——!!!”3 

As his breath touched her ear and he praised her, Leonhart could tell that Carol quivered in an unusual way. 

Eventually her body became unsteady, and it became difficult for her to continue standing.

“Oops.” 

He hurriedly caught her and supported her body. 

“Le-Leonhart, sama…” 

Carol then rubbed her face on Leonhart’s chest. 

Looking at her dazed state, his eyes narrowed in astonishment. 

“…Isn’t she a little too fond of me…?” 

He could only whisper his thoughts. Her current state made her look crazed. So much so that Leonhart thought she might have such talent. 

However, this should be enough for reward, thought Leonhart as he sighed. If he went any further, it might turn into something else. It wasn’t like he minded doing such an act, but he wasn’t in the mood at the moment. Leonhart learned something new today. He never imagined that he would be that happy to have total loyalty from someone. It was a first for him, despite living for over 200 years. Therefore, he tried to reward her for it.

Leonhart looked around the room and wondered what to do with Carol, who was firmly pressed to his chest. Perhaps Ssulal also felt like this for— 

“…It can’t be, right?” 

Leonhart had a bad feeling as he looked toward the door. No matter what, she couldn’t have come at such bad timing. He needed to look after Carol and let her recover— 

“—Leonhart, are you there?” 

“—?!” 

At that moment, he heard knocking and a voice from the other side of the door. It was the voice he had heard many times. 

Maou Ssulal. His own master, who’d made preparations for Carol’s welcome party and had gone to the kitchen to cook some dishes.

—Damn it, she’s too early…! 

When Leonhart and Carol returned to the castle, he asked a demon soldier to deliver a message to her. The message was, “Welcome Party.” He thought if it was Ssulal, she would understand what he meant even though he’d just made his apostle yesterday despite only talking about it the day before. They’ve already known each other for a long time, and were close enough to understand each other. There should be no miscommunication, but even so, his response might still get misconstrued — No, I should reply to her first. 

“…What’s wrong, Ssulal? Aren’t you a little too early?” 

“I’ve been practicing my cooking since noon. Can you open the door?” 

“…Wa-wait a minute.” 

“? Alright.” 

Leonhart mentally cried out. 

—Why are you practicing cooking today?! 

Besides, even if Ssulal practiced cooking, only deadly dishes would come out of it. It was a tradition that has never changed for the past 200 years. Eating such a dish was considered a baptism that has now been dubbed as a welcome party. Once they were done with that, they would switch back to normal food though. 

As his thoughts raced, Leonhart speculated that she practiced cooking exactly because of what they talked about yesterday. They talked about having a welcome party after he made an apostle yesterday, so she might have gotten excited and went to practice her cooking. What a mistake on his part!

“…For now, I need to take care of this one first. Hey, Carol.” 

“Leonhart-sama…” 

Even as Leonhart called to her, Carol was still rubbing her cheek against Leonhart’s chest, and didn’t seem to catch what he was saying. 

“Don’t just stand there in a daze. Get away from me for the time being.” 

“I don’t want to… I want to stay like this.” 

“We can’t do—“ 

“Leonhart~? Can I enter already?” 

“Wha… wait for a little longer…” 

“You don’t have to wait a little longer, we can go to bed immediately…” 

“What the heck are you talking about?!” 

“Eh… Leonhart?” 

“Eh, ah… yea?” 

“…Are you okay? You sounded weird.” 

“No, that’s—“ 

“Leonhart-sama… your clothes—“ 

“Oi, don’t strip your clothes, you lewd apostle!” 

“Eh, you’re stripping?!” 

“Aaah, Damn it!” 

He was panicking at this point. 

Leonhart was trying to pull off Carol, who was clinging to him, but she was quite persistent.

Rather, Leonhart wondered why he was panicking so much. He shouldn’t have minded being seen like this. In the first place, he had the right to do anything he liked to her, and nobody could complain about it.

He thought he’d be better off if he acted defiant and showed it off instead. If it was anybody else who visited him, he might have done so.

However, he wanted to avoid showing such a thing to Ssulal. Therefore, he wanted to quickly—

“…Leonhart?” 

“?!” 

When he noticed, he heard the sound of the door opening, along with the footsteps of Ssulal, who had entered the room. 

Ssulal then looked at the two people’s expressions, the majin and the apostle who was embracing said majin.

Then,

“—Leonhart? What are you doing? 

“…Thi-this is.” 

Ssulal unleashed her bloodlust as she looked at him. She was currently expressionless, but Leonhart could feel this mysterious and pointed intent, as if she was blaming him for being in this situation. 

No, I have to think of an excuse. Thus, Leonhart desperately racked his brain.

Then,

“We had a mock battle until just—“ 

“—Hmn, Leonhart-sama. Who are you talki—?!” 

As Leonhart was trying to make some absurd excuse, Carol who was still clinging to him finally noticed he was in conversation with someone, saw who he was talking to, and immediately separated herself from him. 

Then, she genuflected in a panic and gave her a greeting as a vassal. 

“Ma-Maou-sama… Do you need anything from us?!” 

As expected, Maou was an awe-inspiring existence for common demons and people who weren’t familiar with her. Carol, who wasn’t afraid of Camilla, tensely greeted her.

“…Who are you?” 

The pressure Ssulal was exuding shifted from Leonhart to Carol. 

“Ye-yes. My name is Carol, the one who has turned into the apostle of Leonhart-sama. I am pleased to meet you, Maou-sama.” 

“…Fuhn, I see.” 

Carol hurriedly bowed her head. Then she explained to her that she was Leonhart’s apostle. Upon hearing that, Ssulal toned down her killing intent and commanded Carol as she stood above her. 

“What were you doing with Leonhart until just now?” 

“…That’s… err.” 

Carol furtively glanced toward Leonhart. She hesitated due to the desperation she saw in that brief glance with her master, but decided to tell the truth. 

“I-I was being praised by Leonhart-sama.” 

“…Praised?” 

Ssulal looked surprised. Then Carol continued to speak.

“Yes, Leonhart-sama patted my head.” 

“…He-h, Heee-h, so that’s what happened.” 

Leonhart mentally fist pumped in victory. If what they did was put into words, then that was all they did. There wasn’t anything unseemly about it. 

It might seem weird for her to embrace him, but he could just insist that it was his way of expressing his consideration for his apostle.

Victory music began to play inside Leonhart’s mind.

However, Carol’s explanation didn’t stop there.

“The-then… e-err, i… as Leonhart-sama praised me… hn.” 

“…hn?” 

Ssulal asked back in reflex. 

Leonhart inwardly shouted for her to stop.

—Oi, what are you trying to say here…?! 

However, his wish failed to reach her. 

“Hn… N-no, that’s not what I mean… I-I was aroused by that!” 

“…—?!”4 

As Ssulal observed Carol, who shouted coyly, she stiffened for a few seconds before finally understanding what she meant.  

Then, Ssulal, who was now also as red as Carol was, hesitatingly asked her. 

“Eh, you’re aroused, you say… eh, err, just because you were praised…?” 

“Ye, yes, Maou-sama. Leonhart-sama’s stroking skill was very, err… amazing.”  

“…I-I see.” 

Ssulal gulped as she heard Carol’s report. Then she turned toward Leonhart. 

Leonhart, who was feeling uncomfortable due to the current atmosphere, muttered in an attempt to diffuse this situation.

“…Don’t look at me like that.” 

“Ah… Kuh, uuh…!”5 

As Ssulal met Leonhart’s gaze, she groaned in embarrassment and, 

“…I-I’ll… go out… to calm myself… I’ll return after a bit.” 

“…Ah, Aah.” 

She managed to mutter an embarrassed response, and slowly left the room. 

The master and servant, Leonhart and Carol, were left behind inside the room.

Carol immediately bared her current feelings to Leonhart as soon as they were left alone.

“…Leonhart-sama… I’m feeling embarrassed…” 

“…Don’t worry… you’re not alone.” 

Since it took the three people quite a bit of time to calm down, the welcome party was put off to a later date. 

—By the way, the deadly dishes that Ssulal had already cooked were eaten with much gusto by Galtia. 


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Fumei
Fumei
1 year ago

And that’s how you do ecchi. Take notes!