The Melancholy of the Demon Army Officer
Translator: Tsukii
Editor: Millinia
Read at Watashi Wa Sugoi Desu!
Chapter 022 – Apostle Candidate [A]
“Well then, who are you? Rather, how do you know about that?”
For the time being, since talking about personal business in front of the door—or rather in the hallway—felt wrong, I invited the girl into my room.
However, as soon as the girl entered the room, she looked around and—
“As expected, the room of Leonhart-sama, who is of the one of the Four Elite Majin… it sure feels luxurious. The bed also feels fluffy.”
“…”
For some reason, she was inspecting things in the room.
I called out again to the girl who investigated the room with such interest. If I let her be, it was unlikely we could proceed with the conversation.
“…Ah… Well, err, can you introduce yourself for now?”
“Oops, excuse me. I lost myself looking around just now. Then, I’ll introduce myself…“
The girl put her hand in front of her and did some sort of pose.
“I am the gal demon, Battle Notes, who is going to be Leonhart-sama’s apostle! I’m in your care from now on!”1
“…”
“Fuh… that surely does it…”
I suddenly felt tired as I watched the girl who seemed to be beside herself with satisfaction at the introduction she made with such a pose.
…To think this is the kind of person who first volunteered to be my apostle…
I could tell at a glance that she had a unique personality.
An immediate question about her crossed my mind. She referred to herself as a gal demon, Battle Notes.
Gal demon.
Just as its name suggested, they were a species of demon, despite the fact that their appearance was akin to a cute human girl. Each of the species had its respective racial ability.
They could breed with guy demons and give birth to new demons. As a side note, there were almost no guy demons that had a similar appearance to humans. The ones humans had referred to as demons were mostly guy demons.2
Well then, her being a gal demon in and of itself was fine. Since I was majin myself, I could tell that she was a gal demon.
The problem lied with the words that followed, battle notes.
Battle notes referred to a species of gal demon that was more intelligent than strong. They had great tactical eyes, operational command abilities, unit command abilities, and could perform group actions.
Due to their high secretarial ability, many battle notes were working as assistants and staff members of the demon generals in the Demon Army, and I was familiar with those gal demons who often associated with me.
However, I found something strange exactly because I knew them well.
Battle notes had the physical characteristics of long, light purple hair with a black-based military uniform that looked like a dress.
However in her case, her clothes might be the correct type, but her hair…
So I chose to say what was on my mind.
“…You’re not a battle notes, but a commander isn’t—“
“I am Battle Notes.”
She, the alleged battle notes, cut off my words before I managed to finish my thought.
So I tried to argue with her from a different perspective.
“…I thought a battle notes’ hair wasn’t supposed to be that short…”
“I cut it myself! It became my identity!”
“…”
I silently looked at her head, “Is it really true? Is a gal demon’s hair something that could be cut?”
All gal demons looked mostly the same, even their clothing was considered part of their body. If their clothes were torn or stripped, they would grow back eventually—or so it seemed. I’d never seen it first hand, so I didn’t know any better.
A commander was a lesser species than battle notes, where they had shorter hair. Since they were a lesser species, their abilities shouldn’t be better than a battle notes’, though.
Well then, which one was she?—or so I thought to ask, but there was something I was more curious about. I asked her with a suspicious expression,
“Well, putting aside whether you are a battle notes or a commander… How did you know I was going to make an apostle? That was something I just decided yesterday.”
“That is an obvious thing to know. It’s because I am the president of Leonhart-sama’s fan club!”
“Hah?”
Just now, I thought I heard something I couldn’t ignore, or rather, something I couldn’t believe to be true.
“…Eh, there’s something like a fan club?”
“There is one. I founded it around half a year ago.”
The battle notes put her hand on her chest as she proudly declared it. So she was the one who made it, or so I thought, I guess it was obvious since she was the president.
I was quite curious about it and asked the president-sama about it.
“…By the way, how many of you are there? I mean, the members of the fan club.”
“As of now, there are 47 members. The members are mostly battle notes and commanders who often work with Leonhart-sama; there are also some gal demons who specialize in close combat. Recently, our club started to surpass both Shichisei-sama’s and Galtia-sama’s fan club.”
“Is that considered a lot…? Or rather, Shichisei and Galtia also have their own fan clubs?”
“That’s right. There aren’t many gal demons within the Demon Army anyway. However, I won’t be satisfied with just this. We’ll definitely grow in number.”
“…Is that so?”
I could only give such a reply to the battle notes’ declaration since I could neither confirm nor deny it. I wondered if Galtia and Shichisei were aware of their fan club’s existence…
Rather, to think that the gal demons also had their own fads. Their fads were too easy to tell though. Why say anything about my popularity? I didn’t think I had a bad appearance, personally. I just didn’t talk much about it since it was plain stupid to spread such words, and I hated being humble about it.
As I thought about that, I thought of one possible reason why the matter regarding making an apostle was leaked. Or rather, it was the only possible explanation.
I got straight to the point and stated my conclusion,
“…Is it fair to say that you heard my conversation with Camilla yesterday?”
“As expected of Leonhart-sama! What wonderful wisdom! As you have guessed, I happened to hear your conversation with Camilla-sama in the corridor yesterday! And since I couldn’t wait, I came here now! Fufufu, I’m scared of my own good luck…”
As she swept her hair and put on a nihilistic smile, she said, “It’s fate~” She seemed to exaggerate things, or rather, maybe she just wanted to stand out? She was supposed to be a gal demon who was responsible for operational command, yet why does she seem to be so stupid? By the way, no other battle notes had this kind of personality. By and large, their personalities were muted.
“Ah…“
I thought about what to do as I scratched my head.
I did decide to make an apostle, but was she the right one?
She looked so pitiful. No, considering she could still do that in front of me, a majin, was favorable in terms of my evaluation of her. Since I’ve lived for so long as a majin, the people who could converse with me as an equal had become few in number. There were times I felt like sighing because of that fact. Therefore, I didn’t hate this type of person.
And so far, it didn’t feel like she had ulterior motives. Rather, if this was actually acting, that would be scary.
Although I had doubts as to whether she was a battle notes or a commander, bluntly said, it didn’t matter which she actually was. I had no intention to base my decision on who would be my apostle by their race.
Although I needed to see more to fully judge her personality, she passed in that regard so far. All that was left was whether she could be helpful and whether she was compatible with me.
Then, I remembered I forgot to ask her one important question, so I asked her,
“Why do you want to become my apostle?”
This was it. I need to ask this before anything else.
I looked straight into her eyes as if to see through her. It had been some time since I became a majin. The pressure exuded by this should be quite something.
“You asked a great question!”
However, it seemed she didn’t feel the pressure whatsoever and continued to talk as she had before.
“Before I explain that, I need to first explain the charm of Leonhart-sama!”
With that said, she spun her words.
“Leonhart-sama possesses great strength, worthy of the seat in the Four Elite Majin, has been entrusted with the role of the demon army officer, and is someone who is clearly trusted by the Maou-sama. Among the other majins across history, you are reputed as the easiest one to get along with, and your appearance is also great. For such reasons, Leonhart-sama, who is the majin among the majins…“
She kept spouting her series of compliments which made me feel ticklish.
She then put her hand to her chest and proudly opened her mouth.
“You have a capable brain and excellent appearance, and if we include me, who has good fighting power amongst battle notes as your apostle, then there will be no enemies that could match us! That’s why, Leonhart-sama…“
After she made a series of appeals about herself, she pleaded,
“Please make me into your apostle!!”
“…I see.”
When I finished listening to her words, I swallowed my comments, or rather, my retort, back into my throat.
Then, with a slight sharp look and a slightly harsh tone, I scoffed,
“Well, your enthusiasm sure got conveyed. Do you understand what it means to become my, a majin’s, apostle?”
I continued my words to explain properly to her. It would be troublesome if she didn’t understand it after all.
“An apostle is basically absolutely obedient toward their majin. Regardless of what I want you to do, even if I treat you like a slave, you have no way to resist my commands. You will do so until the day I die—nay, even after I die—even after I’ve been reduced into a demonic blood soul, you will still move for my sake.”
The relationship between an apostle and majin, who signed a blood contract, was similar to that of the maou and majin in that they possessed absolute command authority over them. Although, they were not at a particular disadvantage if they were not ordered directly. However, apostles were compelled to do everything their majins asked if they were commanded with absolute obedience.
And that curse would persist even after their majin was reduced into a demonic blood soul. Majins could still be revived by making their demonic blood souls possess a new host. The apostle would be compelled to search for a new host for their master.
Such instincts would be ingrained within them. The blood of their master would lead them to do so. Even if the demonic blood soul was overwritten, and another majin was born instead, the apostle would be compelled to serve that majin instead.
With that being said, a majin and their apostle would spend a long time together. So much so that one could say they shared their fate together. I couldn’t half-heartedly choose an apostle.
Therefore, what a majin sought from the apostle was their compatibility with each other, and also—their loyalty.
“Can you swear absolute loyalty to me?”
“I swear!”
Yet even after she heard my warning, she still instantly responded.
“…”
I kept looking at her for a while. This was a threat, an ultimatum, if she had even the slightest doubt, if she had no such resolve, I would have her give up on it. My gaze conveyed such a message.
Yet, there was no hesitation within her eyes. It might be seen as if she didn’t think at all, or she had already resolved to do so for a long time. Well then, she was…
After a while, I closed my eyes and exhaled. The atmosphere within the room relaxed a little.
“…Then, I’ll give you a test for it.”
“I’ll do it! Please tell me what I need to do!”
She immediately responded without fear. Which is it? Does she really have what it takes? Or does she merely not think much of anything?
I briefly explained the contents of the test.
“It’s a simple task. I will treat you as my lesser apostle just for today. Accompany me and help me any way you can.”
Lesser apostles didn’t commit blood contracts with a majin, they merely swore their loyalty to their majin.
By the way, lesser apostles had a greater status even compared to demon generals. Apostles were majins’ aides after all.
“All I need to do is to help Leonhart-sama, right?! I understand!”
“…I won’t give you any detailed orders. I’ll only tell you where we’ll go and what we’ll do there. After that, think for yourself and act accordingly.”
“Of course! Fufun, I am good at thinking despite looking like this. And have always been more into action than words.”
She held onto her chest proudly. She seemed to be a very confident person.
I didn’t comment on that and stood up. Then I only said a few words to her,
“Well then, we’re going.”
“Certainly!”
As she saw me about to leave the room, she went ahead of me and opened the door.
“Here you go!”
“…Aah.”
…Anyway, she seemed energetic.
I thankfully went out through the door she opened for me and began to think about what to do for the day.
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Gal demon? Like, gyaru?