Legion Commander Deon Hart (3)
Even in this absurd situation, my hands were admirably clutching onto my lifeline.
The torch, still burning brightly, was firmly gripped in my hand.
The moment I became aware of its presence, without even thinking, I swung it toward the vine that was binding my legs.
"KIYEEEEEEK!"
With an ear-splitting shriek, the vine around my ankle snapped off.
Nice! Good thing I kept the torch with me!
I honestly hadn't expected I'd actually need to use it though…
'But wait... why does my back feel so cool?'
That grotesque flower seemed to be getting farther away too… which was good, but still, something felt…
'Hold up! I'm falling!!'
How high up had I been?
If that monster could cover a radius of 10 meters, I must've been at least that high up.
"...Haha, f*ck."
SOMEBODY SAVE MEEEEEE!!
Even as my mind was screaming in terror — to the point my heart could've burst out of my mouth — my body, trained by countless battles, was calmly preparing to break my fall.
Of course, I was definitely going to break a bone or two, but hey…
It was better than snapping my neck.
I braced myself mentally, aiming to roll properly upon impact—
When suddenly, someone caught me mid-air.
"De-De-De-Deamon-nim! Are you okay?! Are you hurt?! Are you not h-h-hurt anywhere?!"
I was supposed to be the one panicking, but why was he the one stammering?
Oh wow, did you even bite your tongue just now?
I was seriously tempted to shove this idiot — the root cause of everything — straight into that man-eating plant's mouth.
But I barely managed to hold back.
Not because he was stronger than me, but because...
I lifted my head and looked at Hien, feeling the solid arms that had caught me.
'...I'll let it slide just this once.'
To catch someone falling from that height without a problem...
Even though I was on the lighter side, I still weighed as much as any average adult.
Demons really were demons, huh.
"Deamon-nim?"
"...I'm... fine."
I quietly pushed against his chest.
Taking that as a signal that I wanted to get down, Hien gently lowered me to the ground.
The moment my feet touched the floor, the world spun dizzily.
I closed my eyes for a moment, letting the spinning in my head settle, then lowered the hand I had been covering my face with and turned toward Hien.
And then…
"..."
I was struck speechless.
Behind Hien, where the silver of moonlight and the black of night should have blended together, the sky was dyed bright red.
The acrid smell of smoke stabbed at my nose, and searing heat licked at my skin.
A cold sweat trickled down my back.
Not because it was hot…
'This… this is because of me, isn't it?'
The garden was on fire — because of the torch I had dropped when I fell.
I'm going to die today.
'No, I'm definitely going to die.'
Feeling the heat prickle against his skin, Hien lowered his head weakly.
The plant he had so carefully cultivated had tried to devour Deamon-nim.
Of course, there was no way Deamon-nim would be defeated by a mere plant.
Clearly, the plant had displeased him.
Otherwise, why would he have deliberately let himself get caught by such a feeble attack?
He must have been looking for an excuse to burn this garden down.
Maybe… maybe he had been dissatisfied with Hien himself.
The mistake of a plant is the mistake of its gardener.
Regardless of Deamon-nim's true intentions, ultimately, it was Hien's plant that attacked first.
Thus, Deamon-nim had no choice but to defend himself.
This made it impossible for anyone to blame Deamon-nim for the destruction of the garden —
If anything, it was Hien who was now the one responsible.
Not that Hien had ever dared imagine he could accuse Deamon-nim of anything in the first place.
'If he's angry at me… then it's my fault.'
Normally, Deamon-nim was known to be an incredibly generous person.
Even his personal physician, Ben, would brag about it wherever he went.
So if he was angry now, it could only mean…
Hien had done something to offend him.
Even though I had braced myself, death was still terrifying.
I smoothed my surely pale face and bit down hard on my lip as I stared at Deamon-nim's back.
Maybe because I could only see his back — maybe because I couldn't read his expression — but he somehow felt different from usual, even the atmosphere around him.
'No, no, this isn't the time to be reading the atmosphere.'
Now was the time to grovel.
While Deamon-nim kept his back to me, silently watching the flames devour the garden, I bowed deeply toward him.
"I'm sorry."
His heels, which had been facing away from me, slowly turned.
Hien, seeing the tips of Deamon-nim's shoes pointing toward him, shut his eyes tightly.
Wow, it's burning so well.
Is this what it looked like when slash-and-burn farmers fled oppressive taxes and set fires to clear land in the mountains?
The problem was, this wasn't a mountain, it was the Demon King's castle — and nobody needed farmland here.
'What do I do…?'
It wasn't just burning well — it was burning too well.
The infuriating man-eating plant that had attacked me was already completely consumed by the flames, no longer shrieking with its horrible cries.
The other grotesque plants nearby were also silently disappearing into the fire.
Already, half of the western garden had been swallowed up, and the fire was still hungrily expanding, as if it wasn't satisfied yet, racing to consume the rest of the plants.
I could feel a prickling gaze on the back of my head.
That had to be Hien.
I didn't dare turn around to see his expression.
Instead, half in a daze, I just stared blankly at the now blood-red garden.
Yeah, I wasn't going to deny it.
This was pure escapism.
This was the Demon King's castle.
The gardener was, naturally, a demon.
A demon, okay?
'Somebody, anybody, please put this fire out.'
I even started praying silently for rain, when suddenly, a faint voice rose from behind me.
"I'm sorry."
"...?"
I thought I must have misheard.
This was clearly a situation where I should be apologizing.
Why was he apologizing?
My ears insisted I heard it correctly, but my brain stubbornly insisted I had misheard.
Torn between the two, I hesitated a long moment before slowly turning around to check.
Thankfully, the sight that greeted me was not an enraged Hien, but Hien bowing low.
Relieved, but still confused, I stayed silent.
Seeing this, Hien hurried to explain.
"I didn't realize you were displeased with that plant… no, with the garden itself."
"..."
"Or... perhaps you are angry with me...?"
"No, that's not it."
Did I look like someone with so little conscience?
I brushed my hand lightly over my face and looked at him again.
Anyway, so what he was saying was —
He thought I had set fire to the garden because I didn't like that man-eating plant, or the garden itself?
And instead of getting mad about it, he was apologizing?
"Are you insane?"
"I'm sorry."
"No, that's not what I meant…"
Now that I thought about it — this guy was a total pushover.
Either way, judging from the situation, it didn't seem like he was going to get angry at me.
And frankly, claiming I hated the garden and burned it intentionally sounded a lot better for my survival chances than admitting I just stupidly dropped the torch by accident.
So, what should I say now?
"…It's not like I loved the garden, but it's not like I hated it either."
Honestly, I hated it.
Absolutely hated it.
It was disgusting!
But what could I do?
I couldn't exactly demand the Demon King's gardener grow ordinary human-world flowers like roses or lilies.
I would just have to put up with it.
"Then…"
"Just — just try not to grow plants like the one you showed me earlier, if you can."
"Ah, yes! Of course! I'll get rid of all the seeds immediately!"
You don't have to go that far.
I wasn't planning to police what he grew in his own garden.
Anyway, it looked like things had somehow worked themselves out, so I nodded.
But then, behind the determined-looking Hien, a shadow loomed.
A figure — clearly a person, or rather, a demon — cast a dark silhouette.
I narrowed my eyes at it, trying to make out who it was.
At that moment, a voice rose from the shadow.
—A very familiar voice.
"What's with all the fire?"
Hien's body immediately stiffened.
I didn't show it, but I froze too.
Of course we did. That voice was unmistakably...
"Who started it? Was it on purpose?"
It belonged to none other than the one and only King of the Demon Realm — the so-called Demon King, the strongest being in history.
"Y-Your Majesty, what brings you here...?"
"What, you expected me to sit around when there's a fire in my castle?"
The Demon King sharply cut off Hien's question.
He turned his head, his ominous heterochromatic eyes sweeping over the flames before glinting coldly as he fixed his gaze on both Hien and me.
When he looked at Hien, his expression had been flat and detached — but the moment his eyes landed on me, they lit up strangely.
"So that's why no one's been putting out the fire…"
Running a hand through his hair, he gave a light smile.
Clearly, unmistakably — aimed at me.
Oh no.
This is that thing, right?
That "Today's your funeral, kid" kind of thing.
Sure enough, the Demon King said my name — well, the name known in the Demon Realm, not my real name, probably because there were other people around.
"So you're here, Deamon."
At the same time, he waved his hand.
The thick smoke blanketing the area instantly dispersed far into the distance.
Only then could I clearly see:
A whole crowd of demons, gathered and standing awkwardly, looking at us with troubled faces.
Seriously?
If they were here the whole time, why didn't they put out the fire earlier instead of just watching?
Because of them, now even the Demon King had shown up!
"So, what is it you didn't like?"
"…?"
"Were you mad at the gardener? Or did you just hate the garden?
If you want, I can kill him for you. What'll it be?"
Whoa, whoa, hold up.
Didn't you personally bring that gardener here yourself?
Why are you so casually offering to kill him?
And judging by the complete lack of humor in his eyes, this wasn't a joke.
Flustered, I quickly glanced at Hien — but even though he should have been desperately defending himself or begging for mercy, he just bowed his head quietly, as if ready to accept whatever fate awaited him.
At this rate, the Demon King might really kill Hien.
I hurried to open my mouth.
"I'm not angry at the gardener. I don't hate the garden either."
"Then why? …No, before that.
Is it okay to put the fire out, then?"
"Eh? Oh, yes."
I nodded automatically.
Immediately, the gathered demons rushed forward and began casting spells.
Enormous drops of water formed in the previously clear sky and poured down all at once.
With that many people working together, the fire was extinguished almost instantly.
Seriously?
They could've put it out that fast if they tried, and yet they were just standing around earlier?
"Then why did you set fire to the garden?"
At that question, I hesitated.
If I explained Hien's misunderstanding myself, it would only get me in trouble with everyone here.
Would it be better to just tell the truth?
'What would he think if I said I almost died because of just one plant?'
Would he get mad and yell, "You're that weak and you dared to deceive me all this time? Die!"
Or maybe he'd say, "You burned my whole garden over a single plant? You're dead!"
Still, I couldn't exactly refuse to answer the Demon King's question either.
As I struggled to figure out what to say, Hien unexpectedly spoke up on my behalf.
"The new plant I introduced attacked Deamon-nim.
In a righteous fury, Deamon-nim set it on fire."
"...."
Wow.
This little traitor.
Who sent you?
The revolutionaries? Or the empire's aristocrats?
I was already brainstorming ways to thoroughly crush him and make it known far and wide, but it seemed he wasn't done talking.
After a brief pause, he spoke again, his voice trembling slightly.
"It's my fault.
I failed to properly train it."
The word "train" felt ridiculous to apply to a plant, but apparently, no one around found it odd.
Then again, considering what I'd seen earlier, that thing was more like an animal than a plant anyway.
"Ghk."
A short gasp cut through the air.
I quickly looked up — and there it was:
The Demon King, lifting Hien up by the neck with one hand.
Even as his face twisted in pain from the lack of air, Hien didn't resist.
'Oh my god. We could've ended this quietly, but now…'
The very air itself felt different now.
Heavier.
Crushing enough to flatten a person completely.
I stood there, frozen and stammering uselessly, as the Demon King, still gripping Hien by the neck, turned his head toward me.
His expression, which had been brutal when he looked at Hien, softened when he faced me.
No, he was smiling.
"What should I do?"
"…Huh?"
"Should I kill him?"