The Melancholy of the Demon Army Officer
Translator: Tsukii
Editor: Shizukuku
Read at Watashi wa Sugoi Desu!
Chapter 083 – Handshake Event and Evolution [B]
“…However, isn’t it about time for this to be over…?”
The lines grew shorter. Once he was done with the handshakes, he should give some services to the people who manage the event.
With that in mind, Leonhart looked to the next person,
“—Ah?”
“…”
Leonhart was stunned when he saw the enormous figure.
It was a demon that stood about three meters tall.
There was a huge sphere that occupied most of his center body, with something like a human face floating in it. There were some tentacles on his back, his upper body was covered with something that looked like silver armor, and blue demon-like arms and legs protruded out of the armor.
The demon, whose appearance was very similar to a demon general, looked at Leonhart and,
“—Leonhart-sama…”
He kneeled and gazed up at Leonhart,
“I… embarrassingly managed to evolve and return to you…!”
“…”
Leonhart silently looked at the demon in front of him. Leonhart then put his hand on his chin for a moment, then up toward his forehead and to massage his brow. Then after a while,
“—Who are you?”
“…”
“Ah, so he isn’t an acquaintance.”
The demon turned silent. Even Carol tilted her head at the sight of the huge demon they didn’t recognize.
Meanwhile, the demon shouted with his arms outstretched.
“I-It’s me! It’s the demon general — Lee!!”
“Lee… eh, huh? You are General Lee?”
“You are comrade to that nemesis?!”
The demon exhaled as he listened to those words. While being concerned of Carol’s wariness toward him,
“It makes me feel complicated to be considered a nemesis but… that’s right. I’m Lee, the demon general under Leonhart-sama’s command.”
“I guess it’s understandable that you didn’t recognize me, considering my appearance,” laughed the demon. It seemed that he was General Lee, who had worked as Leonhart’s aide for a long time.
However,
“You… sure grew quite big… Rather, how did you end up like this?”
“That’s quite a flashy image change!”
“It’s not like I became like this because of an image change, though…”
Seeing how calmly he dealt with Carol’s harsh comments, it seemed there was no mistake that he was Lee. General Lee then explained as he exhaled lightly.
“Actually, today happened to be the end of my lifespan… so I’d thought to spend my last moments in an empty room earlier, but—”
“…But?”
“Yes,” nodded Lee.
“The moment before I lost my consciousness, my body suddenly started to glow… then before I knew it, I woke up with this appearance.”
“…I see. I don’t understand at all…”
As Leonhart wrinkled his eyebrows at the mysterious phenomenon he couldn’t understand, Carol felt indignant about something else that had caught her attention.
“I don’t really understand that, but it’s unfair to see you grow stronger somehow!”
“That’s what you retort with…? But well, I certainly feel more powerful.”
According to Leonhart’s senses, he could feel that Lee had grown much stronger compared to his days as a demon general. So much so that he could be considered stronger than most apostles and close to the level of a majin. General Lee seemed to aware of that and he clenched his fist,
“Yes, I certainly feel stronger. How to say this—”
The moment Lee was at loss how to describe.
Suddenly, a voice came from the side.
“I think… that’s an evolution.”
When everyone turned to the source of the voice, they saw the suspiciously dressed girl from earlier.
Looking at the girl holding a large number of bags, Carol was, 1
“Ssulal-sama! What do you mean by evolution?!”
“C-Carol-kun? I-I am not the person named Ssulal, I’m Lenolass. Could you please not make such a mistake?”
“I understand, Ssulal-sama! I will refer to you as Lenolass-sama from now on!”
“…………Anyway.”
…Ah, she just gave up on convincing Carol, didn’t she?
As Leonhart inwardly thought of Ssulal’s feelings, she proceeded to explain.
“I think it’s a phenomenon known as evolution that happens occasionally to demons. Several cases of demon captains evolving to demon generals have been confirmed before… Originally, demon generals were a separate race, so it shouldn’t be possible for demon captains or below to evolve into demon generals just by wearing their outfit though.”
“…Then maou-sama, I—”
“I told you I am Lenolass!!”
“………Lenolass-sama, what happened to me then?”
She could drop the act. Everyone already knows who she is anyway, thought Leonhart while looking at her with half-lidded eyes.
Ssulal then coughed to clear her throat and muttered as she regained her thoughts.
“Since you evolved from a demon general… I guess that would make you a great demon general? I guess we can just refer to you as that since it’s considered a new species.”
“A great demon general…”
General Lee looked at his body and repeated the words. Apparently, he still couldn’t believe it.
Though not exactly because of that, Leonhart said to him,
“Well, isn’t it fine? You grew considerably stronger by that, right?”
“Leonhart-sama… But is it really alright for a demon like me to be a great demon general?”
As General Lee was in doubt,
“It’s not a question whether or not it is okay for you to be one, since you already are one. It means you have the power now. I will give you an appropriate amount of tasks, so work harder than you did before.”
After all,
“I’ve become the Supreme Majin now, so nobody will complain if you become my aide. —I’m expecting a lot from you, great demon general?”
“—! Y-yes!!”
Leonhart revealed a smile as he heard General Lee’s good reply. Leonhart then tapped Lee’s grown back,
“Well then, to commemorate your promotion, should we have something to eat after this event? I also want to consult with you about the future chain of command and division of work while we’re at it.”
“Please do!!”
It seemed that his personality hadn’t changed at all, even though his body had grown so much bigger. Looking at the great demon general lowering his head toward him, Leonhart spoke to move on.
“Well then, next one—”
“Ah, Leonhart-sama.”
The great general responded. With a lighter tone compared to before,
“May I shake hands with you as well?”
“…Are you also a fan?”
“Of course I am.”
“…Haah, it can’t be helped. Here you go.”
“I appreciate it,” said the big demon as his hand was taken and shook. Leonhart gave Lee an exasperated look.
…He’s been strangely loyal to me ever since his days as a demon general, but…
Leonhart never thought that Lee was actually part of his fan club. They finished their handshake while Leonhart was thinking that,
“—Muu! You shouldn’t be arrogant just because you’ve gotten stronger!”
“…Eh, no, it’s not like I’m being arrogant—“
“I am the number one aide of Leonhart-sama, okay! Just because you’ve been with Leonhart-sama longer than I have, you shouldn’t be so arrogant!”
“I-it hur— err, it actually didn’t hurt that much… Hey, please don’t pull out your gun because of that, Carol-sama!”
“No mercy!”
“So this is the reason…”
As he watched Carol kick the great demon general, Leonhart exhaled as he realized the reason why Carol saw Lee as her enemy.
…Certainly, it’s been a long time since he first accompanied me.
Lee had indeed been with Leonhart longer than Carol had. That was why Carol kept picking on Lee.
Both of them are my important subordinates though, thought Leonhart as he resumed the fans’ handshake event.
Meanwhile, on one side.
“F-fuh… I somehow managed to slip in without being caught. I would be embarrassed if he had seen me come for the merchandise, so I’m glad I put on a disguise…!”
“…I think they already knew about it though.”
Not hearing Kesselring as she pointed that out in a small voice, the passing by genius beautiful girl writer, Seiten Bishoujoou Lenolass, took her bag full of Leonhart’s merchandise and returned to the castle with a satisfied expression.
Author Note
Galtia : “Lenolass… which maou is she again?”
Lenolass? : “I-I wonder who it might be…”
Kesselring : “Lenolass-sama… I wonder whose master she is again?”
Lenolass? : “It’s not like she is definitely someone’s master…”
Leonhart : “I think she might be a hikikomori, stubborn, and a person with a flat chest who keeps researching something all the time and only eats sweet stuff in addition to having terrible cooking skills, the flat chested maou.” 2
Lenolass? :”Don’t keep saying flat chest! It’s not like people have flat chests because they want to!!”
Carol : “Does everyone know who she is?”
Hunty : “No… it’s totally obvious, right?”
Launea : “……… (Even though I was about to discuss about the name origin and other name candidates for the great demon general here…)”
Tsukii Note:
Illustration time! Well then. Let’s proceed immediately
Sketch: https://i.ibb.co/rHZwPTf/Sketch-portrait.webp
A species of gal demon. Their appearance is a girl carrying a sketchbook and huge pencil, and they are dedicated artists devoted only to drawing. They are capable of creating doodle beast to fight alongside them. Their drawing sucks though.
Doodle Beast: https://i.ibb.co/bmtVs2f/Graffiti-Dragon.webp (example is doodle dragon)
Doodle beasts are incredibly strange and amorphous organisms created through unnatural means, they don’t follow rules of mortals and they are created by other living beings than through regular cycles of birth and death.
Great Demon General: https://i.ibb.co/mHR362v/Zedong-X.webp (example is Zedong)
Great demon generals are a special group of demons who served the highest ranking members of the Demon Army. While their appearance and role are somewhat similar to demon generals, they are considered an entirely different species. Only seven of them could exist at a time, so the only way for a new one to emerge/evolve is if only the seven slots are not fulfilled yet or opened up due death.
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