The Melancholy of the Demon Army Officer
Translator: Tsukii
Editor: Ai
Read at Watashi wa Sugoi Desu!
Chapter 107 – Majin Xavier [A]
Well then, said Leonhart as he turned his gaze to the man behind him.
After seeing Maou Nighcisa, the master of the Maou Castle, off to his room, Leonhart took a man to a vacant room after lightly guiding him around the castle. He just finished doing so.
The man was the first majin created by Maou Nighcisa ―― his name was Xavier, and he was a flame kappa majin.
He wore a bright red cloak, a black outfit reminiscent of his master’s and a sword hung at his waist. He had white eyes, a beard around his mouth, and the tips of his spiky black hair was a red flame, showing his former species as flame kappa. As Leonhart looked at the new majin,
…I have to accomplish the work I was entrusted to.
Majin creation was a spontaneous act by Nighcisa and he commanded Leonhart to destroy a great nation within a year. In addition, there was also the education of Majin Xavier.
The second was a great task, but Leonhart was probably entrusted with the education of the new majin because it was bound to happen in the future as well. To be honest, Leonhart wanted to dump the duty of education to someone else, but that would likely produce problems. It was entirely likely.
But complaining wouldn’t solve anything. Since he had to do it, he had to do it properly. Therefore, Leonhart asked Xavier.
“――Up to this point, is there anything you don’t understand?”
“……No.”
Xavier answered briefly. His gaze followed Leonhart the entire time. Leonhart saw through the true intention of that gaze.
…He’s trying to assess my capability.
Be it the aura that was emitted, how one moved their body, how one breathed, and how one distributed their line of sight to appraise the strength of the other party to some extent. If one was an expert in that aspect, they could even predict emotions and thoughts. Xavier was trying to do as much the entire time.
That said, Leonhart also did the same. He saw that Xavier tried to assess him. The fact the other party felt his intention meant he was still a beginner in that aspect.
…Or maybe he deliberately showed off to see my reaction?
In that case, he’s quite a bullish guy. Well then,
“I see. Then you can live in this room from today onward. If you need anything, just ask the demon soldier or maid-san.”
“…Thank you for your consideration.”
Xavier bowed his head. Leonhart nodded back,
“Then I’ll be going. I have a lot of work to do, after all. If you have something to ask, just visit my office. I’m often absent, though――Finally, if you need something in particular, may I hear it now?”
“Hah… well then, if I may be rude, may I request for one――no, two things?”
“Speak.”
“Thank you very much,” said Xavier as he lowered his head. Then after raising it again,
“Before that… Leonhart-sama was granted full authority over the Demon Army by Nighcisa-sama, wasn’t he?”
“……Aah, that would be the case. And what of it?”
Leonhart affirmed Xavier’s question. Basically, the authority to command the Demon Army was on Leonhart, the supreme majin and the demon army officer.
Nighcisa would say what to do at a strategic level, but Leonhart was the one responsible for daily operation. He needed authorization before any major operation, but trivial management didn’t need to be reported. Nighcisa said he was an outsider in the military field. Therefore, Nighcisa decided to hand off the work to those who were more capable instead. The duty of the ruler was to decide on the policy and order it to the people below. It wasn’t very good for him to do everything himself and take away the work for the people under him.
…I think Nighcisa is capable of doing it himself, though.
Leonhart thought that far while waiting for Xavier’s words. What Xavier said was,
“I see. In that case――I wanted to request the authority over a single army.”
“……Hou?”
Leonhart’s eyebrows twitched at the words.
Granting authority over a single army. That itself wasn’t a hard thing to do. In the first place, every majin was granted authority by their respective army. When it was a higher ranked majin like Leonhart or Camilla, they could move an army at the scale of a hundred thousand independently, and even Kayblis, who was known to be the weakest majin, was entrusted with an army of twenty thousand. Not that he ever moved it personally.
Therefore, granting the authority itself wasn’t a problem. Rather, it would be granted to Xavier eventually without needing him to ask. Leonhart had no intention to be partial because Xavier was the majin that Nighcisa made personally, but that didn’t mean he intended to discriminate against him either. The right ought to be given equally.
If anything, the problem was why Xavier requested it right now.
Therefore, Leonhart squinted,
“……I don’t mind doing that, but first, let me hear the reason why.”
“……I want to be useful to Nighcisa-sama.”
Xavier answered while looking straight at Leonhart.
“I want to please Nighcisa-sama, to help that great one to commit evil, and get used to handling the treatment of the army early. Because of that thought, I want authority over an army.”
“……I see. But it would be preferable after you get used to your life as a majin, though.”
“That’s exactly why, in order for me to get used to life quicker, I wanted to do my duty as the general of the Demon Army quickly.”
“……It makes sense. Very well, I’ll entrust an army to you.”
“Hahah… I appreciate it.”
Xavier genuflected. It seemed that his loyalty to the maou was the real deal.
Leonhart felt a dangerous light that dwelled in Xavier’s eyes when he requested it, but it was only the difference of early and later, and that he seemed more decent compared to most majin who only wanted an army to start a rampage. So it was quickly decided to grant him an army.
After that,
“So, what about the other request?”
“Yes. This one isn’t an object.”
Xavier looked up to him and said. That was,
“I want the opportunity to test my power as a majin――I request that you grant me permission to do so.”
“Opportunity… to test your power, you say?”
Hah, Xavier affirmed. Leonhart couldn’t understand his request,
“…I don’t understand your request. You may test as you like. There’s no need to ask my permission, you could just pick a fight at random――”
“――No, permission is necessary.”
Xavier interrupted Leonhart’s words, wherein Leonhart furrowed his eyebrows. There was a fighting spirit dwelling in Xavier’s eyes,
…Perhaps…
The meaning came to Leonhart’s mind. And Xavier requested the exact same thing.
That was,
“The opponent to test my power as a majin――I’d like Leonhart-sama to be the one.”
Xavier spoke his wish to the majin in front of him.
Majin Leonhart turned into straight face after hearing the request,
“…You want to fight me… is that how it is?”
“That’s how it is.”
Xavier replied immediately. The reason for wishing so was simple.
The first was to test his power as a majin. It was exactly the same as the reason he spoke.
Needless to say, it was true he wanted to test his power. He wanted to unleash the overflowing power he got as a majin on someone else.
And also――If possible, he wanted to kill the opponent. That was why he chose Leonhart as his opponent.
The supreme majin was the status next to the maou, and the demon army officer was the supreme commander of the Demon Army in practice, both of which was held by the majin in front of him. If Xavier could replace Leonhart, there would be nothing more pleasing.
Xavier couldn’t sense Leonhart’s power. The fact he couldn’t do so showed how powerful Leonhart might be. It likely wouldn’t be easy.
However, Xavier didn’t think he would lose with the power he gained. That was how much more powerful he grew. Xavier was aware of that.
Even if Xavier ended up losing, it would still bear meaning. It would allow him to learn the extent of his power.
Things were better if he could win, but even if he was defeated, it was unlikely for Xavier to be killed considering it was a spar. With that in mind, Xavier smiled at Leonhart,
“If possible, I want to test my power with Leonhart-sama, the supreme majin――”
“――Kuh.”
There, Xavier saw.
Leonhart covered his face with his left hand and made a short voice.
It was a momentary smile. Xavier judged it was a smile from the gap of Leonhart’s hand.
What are you, the moment Xavier thought that, Leonhart moved his hand away from his face.
There wasn’t a smile there. Instead,
“――Xavier… There’s one thing I forgot to teach you earlier.”
“……I wonder what it――gh?!”
For a moment, Xavier perceived something.
What surprised him was something that Leonhart unleashed――a cold killing intent and,
“……I did teach you a lot earlier. But there’s only one ultimate rule in this place.”
That was,
“――Don’t offend the strong.”
“――――”
There was a cold expression there.
The gaze of absolute zero and cold fighting spirit crushed Xavier.
Even as he felt his spine chill, Xavier listened to Leonhart’s words.
Listen, he said.
“The demon society follows no law, unlike human society. There is only the word of the strong.”
Basically,
“The Maou is an absolute existence. Therefore his order is supreme. That is to be prioritized above all else; you, me, and everyone else need to follow it, and we should never make him angry――Isn’t that right?”
Xavier nodded by moving his head vertically. He couldn’t make a voice.
While feeling as if a blade was stuck on his neck, Xavier kept listening to Leonhart’s words.
“In that case, whose rule do you need to follow after the maou’s? Who is the one you shouldn’t offend after the maou?”
The question was asked.
However, Leonhart didn’t wait for Xavier’s response and answered on his own. That was,
“That is――those who are stronger than you are. You need to follow their rule. You shouldn’t offend them.”
Xavier understood. That was,
“In the demon society, we refer to those who misjudge others’ capability and recklessly anger them as fools. As for the fate that awaits them… You know it well, don’t you?”
Xavier knew it well. He often did it after all.
And it might fall on him soon. Leonhart approached Xavier,
“Xavier. Do you―― want to experience it personally?”
“…N—no…”
Xavier denied it. He could only do so.
Leonhart snorted as he looked at Xavier, relaxing the cold killing intent,
“I’ll pretend I didn’t hear what you just said. Since you are a majin, you are free to do anything. I won’t mind what you do as long as it’s within the scope of maou-sama’s command… but unless you want to brand yourself a fool, make sure to be careful.”
“…Hah…”
Xavier managed to let out a voice. He squeezed it out of his throat and hung his head. As Leonhart saw that,
“I’ll be going. I’ll give you the army tomorrow. The demon general in charge of said army will come visit later, so do what you like after that.”
“Hah… thank you very much…”
With that, Leonhart turned around and tried to leave the room.
However,
“…Aah, also, don’t forget to ask the demon soldier or maid-san to change the room.”
“Hah… What…”
Do you mean by that? Before Xavier’s words completed, Leonhart said while opening the door.
“If only you could see what I did just now, then I don’t mind fighting you though… See you then, I will tell you later if there’s anything.”
“…Certainly.”
With that sentence, Leonhart left the room.
Relaxed atmosphere returned to the room. It made it easier for Xavier to breathe. However,
…I guess that’s too reckless of me…
The greatest of the majin. It seemed his ability was worth the post. Xavier still couldn’t reach him. His power was still lacking. Leonhart was a capable person. It wasn’t just his power. He was also highly capable in leadership, insight, intelligence, and many more aspects.
It was no wonder he is the aide of Nighcisa-sama. As long as I grow more powerful, I could eventually be on par with him.
“…Now that I think about it.”
Xavier recalled what Leonhart said before leaving the room.
Change the room, what did he mean? He couldn’t find anything weird.
“What is――”
With that in mind, Xavier turned around and saw that.
“This, is…”
There was furniture such as beddings in the room.
All of them were cut in half.
“Since when did he… what did he do…?”
Xavier approached to check and it was cut after all. It was clear it was cut artificially.
However, Leonhart didn’t have anything in his hand. Even if he was a swordsman, without a sword in hand, he shouldn’t be able to cut anything.
…Even if he hid his blade, when did he draw it?
Xavier thought back. Perhaps his last words were about this.
As he thought back―― one thing came to Xavier’s mind.
“Is it that time…?”
It was maybe, but Xavier vaguely perceived it that moment.
However, it wasn’t certain enough to be sure.
That meant there was that much difference in power. In that case,
“……As expected, I need to learn how strong I am now…”
Xavier took a step. He was about to go outside.
He could feel several majin-like presences. He would start there.
“Fufu… Well then, how much power I have…”
Xavier would test his own power. With that purpose, Majin Xavier left the room.
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