The Demon King's Strongest Hand (2)
Only then did I manage to grasp the situation.
This damned body! Why here of all places to start coughing up blood?! Damn it!
I could see the documents stained with blood. And, adding insult to injury, the Demon King was... holding my blood in his own hands. Oh, for god's sake.
'What a filthy life.'
Leaving a short will in my mind, I hurriedly covered my mouth and backed away from the desk.
Not that it made any difference — the documents were already ruined, and the Demon King's hands were already drenched in my blood. I could even hear him gritting his teeth, as if in anger.
I barely suppressed a scream from the murderous pressure piercing through my whole body and forced myself to open my mouth.
"I'm sorry... the documents—"
"That's not the problem right now!! Someone call the personal physician! Bring the 0th Corps Commander's personal physician right now!! How dare the doctor not be here when the patient is suffering?!"
...Huh?
My mind froze at the unexpected turn of events.
A few seconds later, I managed to think of another possibility.
Ah, he's angry at the physician.
In short, this is the idea: I had this "accident" because I'm sick. The fact that I'm sick means the personal physician wasn't doing his job properly. Therefore, the one at fault isn't me — it's the doctor.
So, instead of punishing me, he'll punish the physician.
Which led me to the next question — who would the doctor's grudge be aimed at after taking a beating?
This was the Demon King's Castle. I had to remind myself: the physician was also a demon.
With a look of utter resignation, I slumped down onto the floor.
Damn it. I'm screwed.
"HOW DARE YOU BE ABSENT WHEN THE PATIENT IS SUFFERING?!"
An overwhelming wave of demonic energy swept across the entire castle.
Even without looking, it was obvious who this heavy, suffocating aura belonged to. Physician Ben braced himself for death as he grabbed his medical bag and rushed over.
There was only one subordinate the Demon King would care this much about — his proud 0th Corps Commander, Lord Demon.
Sure enough, when he arrived at the Demon King's office, the first thing he saw was Lord Demon sitting directly on the floor, covering his mouth. Blood was dripping steadily from between his fingers.
The office carpet was already ruined, stained messy red — but of course, the Demon King wouldn't care about something as trivial as that.
Without hesitation, Ben rushed to Lord Demon's side.
His legs seemed to have given out; he made no move to stand. Ben quickly helped him up and guided him onto the sofa, inwardly cursing himself.
To fail to arrive immediately when a patient was in pain — such a thing was unworthy of a personal physician. If Lord Demon were to get angry and snap his neck right then and there, Ben would have no right to complain.
But first, he had to stabilize his patient.
Ben quickly held up three fingers.
Step one: check consciousness.
"Lord Demon, can you hear me? How many fingers am I holding up?"
"Three."
Consciousness: normal. Vision: normal.
Everyone in the Demon King's Castle knew exactly why Lord Demon was in this state. It was impossible not to know.
Because everyone had seen it clearly with their own eyes.
They had all witnessed him — a mere human — stopping a hero's self-destruction at the cost of his own body.
And not only that, but with a single, effortless gesture, he had ended the hero's life.
It was only natural that his body had been wrecked after taking on the full force of a hero's suicide attack alone.
And so — did they look down on him?
'Of course not.'
Even though his body had weakened, his combat ability was an entirely different matter. If it were any other mediocre person, maybe there'd be room for doubt — but this man was different. If he so much as made up his mind, he could probably snatch my life away in an instant. I'd only realize I was dead after I had already died.
Even now, despite coughing up blood, the sharp, vivid light in his eyes made it obvious.
Those blood-red eyes — so deep and pure that they looked as if freshly spilled blood had simply pooled into the shape of irises — stood out all the more against his stark white hair. And in those eyes, there was an undeniable presence of "death."
Eyes like those could only belong to someone who had killed countless beings, who had seen death over and over again. How could anyone dare look down on him?
Suppressing the rush of fear and awe that surged through him, Ben forced himself to speak calmly.
"As you might have expected, it's an aftereffect."
The Demon King's face twisted briefly with resignation, as if he had already known. He fell silent for a moment, a trace of bitterness shadowing his expression. But Demon himself — the one most concerned — was completely different.
He looked completely indifferent. No — it was more accurate to say he looked utterly sick of it.
He had heard it all before. Over and over again. So much so that it was sickening.
As if even this conversation was tiresome, Demon casually wiped his mouth with the handkerchief the Demon King had handed him, then slumped deeper into the sofa.
Faced with such a resigned, almost enlightened attitude, both Ben and even the Demon King found themselves at a loss for words.
'How can he be so composed...?'
If it had been any of the other Corps Commanders, they would have caused a ruckus long ago.
They would have drawn their swords, thrown punches, or at the very least sat there quietly but with lethal intent shining in their eyes, demanding to be healed at any cost.
'Isn't that your job?' they would say.
'Isn't that the entire reason you exist?'
Thinking that far, Ben almost let out a sigh. Not out of frustration or anger — but of quiet relief.
Without even realizing it, Ben thought: Thank god I'm the personal physician for the 0th Corps Commander.
'...No, now's not the time to think like that.'
Forcing the irrelevant thoughts from his mind, Ben quickly composed himself and rummaged through his medical bag.
"Just like always, it's medicine to help with internal injuries. I'm truly sorry this is all I can offer."
"Thank you."
After handing Demon the bottle and confirming he took the medicine, Ben closed his eyes briefly, then opened them again.
Now that he had finished his duties, the inevitable moment could no longer be avoided.
The Demon King had radiated a clear atmosphere of "you and I need to talk" from the moment Ben arrived. Ben knew all too well: ignoring that would mean death. So he rose carefully and turned to face the Demon King.
He had no complaints. He didn't even feel wronged. It was clearly his own fault for failing to react quickly to his patient's condition.
Surely Demon himself felt some level of dissatisfaction too — maybe not full-blown anger, but at least displeasure.
And so, Ben had mentally prepared himself: he would first endure the Demon King's wrath, and if he survived, he would face Demon's dissatisfaction next.
But then, at that very moment, the person who should have been the angriest of all — Demon — stepped in.
...Why?
The Demon King was about to punish the physician!
Instinctively, I shot to my feet and grabbed Ben by the wrist.
Startled, Ben widened his eyes and looked at me. Equally surprised, the Demon King blinked at me with round eyes.
Were they surprised? So was I. But I had no choice.
If the Demon King punished Ben now, the physician's resentment would surely fall squarely on me. No matter how mild-mannered Ben usually was, no one would stay calm after being scolded for something that wasn't their fault.
If that happened, it would be too late.
I had to stop it — to survive!
With that desperate determination, I spoke first, before the still-speechless Demon King could say anything.
"My condition isn't good, so I'll be taking my leave now. Of course, my physician will be coming with me. It's unfortunate, but I'll have to postpone the resignation discussion for another time."
"Uh, oh... Resign...? No — yes, alright. Go get some rest first."
As expected, he was quick to brush aside the resignation topic, clearly unwilling to deal with it right now.
Next time, I will definitely talk about it! I swore silently to myself as I quickly strode out of the office.
I don't know how long we walked.
When we finally stopped, we were standing roughly halfway down a long corridor.
Since there were many identical corridors, I peeked out the window to get my bearings.
As expected of the Demon Realm, where there was no sun — outside the corridor window, a night-cloaked garden stretched out. In place of sunlight, three moons softly illuminated the grounds with an eerie glow.
At first glance, it could almost be called a beautiful scene. But — look closer.
Why did those flowers have teeth? Were they man-eating plants? And the plants next to them — were those eyeballs? They even blinked!
I shuddered at the grotesque sight. Then, from beside me, a faint voice spoke.
"Um, Lord Demon..."
"Hm? ...Ah."
Now that I thought about it, I was still holding onto his wrist. I'd been so flustered that I hadn't even noticed.
I quickly and quietly let go, sneaking a glance at Ben's face. Hopefully, he wasn't offended?
Fortunately, there wasn't any sign of displeasure on his face. Instead, what caught my eye was his complexion — as pale as mine.
He even looked a little fidgety...
"Are you feeling unwell?" I asked.
"No, I'm fine. It's just…"
An expression of resignation clouded his face.
Worried that he really might be sick, I stared at him with genuine concern. Ben let out a small, shaky breath.
His pale lips moved as if he were trying to speak, then, after a moment of steeling himself, he bit down hard on his lower lip and bowed deeply.
"I know this is presumptuous of me, but… I humbly beg you to end me as painlessly as possible!"
"...Huh?"
For a moment, I completely forgot to manage my expression. I was sure my face must've been plastered with pure, dumbfounded confusion. The dazed tone of my voice didn't help either.
Thank goodness he was bowing and couldn't see me right now. Judging by how still he was, he probably hadn't heard my voice either.
I quickly wiped the expression off my face and cleared my throat.
I couldn't very well ask, "What the hell are you talking about?" — so I rephrased it a little.
"...What exactly do you mean by that?"
"A-Ah… forget it. I misspoke. I sincerely apologize!"
I had asked kindly, and yet he panicked even more.
Was he really alright? There's a saying that you can't shave your own head — meaning you can't fix your own problems — and it seems even a physician can fall ill himself.
And he wasn't just any physician. He was my physician.
The thought that I might end up having to entrust my health to someone this unstable filled me with a strange sense of unease. I sighed softly.
"I'm not going to kill you."
Whatever he was thinking, it wasn't going to happen. No, it couldn't happen.
If I had the ability to kill a demon, I would've thrown away the position of Corps Commander long ago and escaped this place. Why else would I still be here, living each day with my heart clenched?
The sheer ridiculousness of my situation hit me anew, and I could only sigh again.
Carrying that heavy, depressed feeling, I trudged off toward my room, leaving a stunned Ben standing behind me.
Despite appearances, I knew well that among all the Corps Commanders, Lord Demon was the most merciful. But even so — I hadn't expected him to show kindness even to someone who failed to fulfill his duties.
No — judging from his attitude, he didn't even think I had failed.
Maybe because he was originally human, his way of thinking was completely different from other demons. I couldn't even begin to guess at his standards.
Still, I had just blurted out something utterly absurd: asking him to kill me without pain. No wonder he had been so stunned — enough that he, who always spoke so formally, actually blurted out an informal "What?"
There was a reason for my panic, though. If it had been any other Corps Commander, even if they had saved me, it would have only been so they could kill me personally and vent their anger.
If only I had caught on and shut up at that point...
But foolishly, unaware of how much my words had displeased him, I actually apologized further, thinking I'd upset him. I had burdened him even more.
Honestly, it would've been no surprise if he'd slapped me across the back of the head.
But instead, Lord Demon had merely sighed faintly and said,
["I'm not going to kill you."]
It was, honestly, a shock. This level of generosity — it was almost too much.
I had always been proud to be Lord Demon's personal physician, but today, that pride burned brighter than ever.
I decided then and there: tonight, I was going to bring a bottle of alcohol and visit Setter, the official Corps Commanders' physician.
The thought of Setter — who had to deal with the ill-tempered Corps Commanders day in and day out — grabbing his neck in jealousy was already vivid in my mind.
Of course, there was still something else I had to do first.
I'll make sure something like this never happens again...
Thinking of my patient — Demon Arut — bleeding so helplessly, Ben's eyes sharpened with determination.