The Devil Wears Fine Clothes (2)

“Urgh…! Ugh…!”

The shaking carriage seemed to be especially rowdy today. As if the carriage was alive and shaking its own bottom, the unpaved road violently rocked. Even by lunchtime the next day, the hero, whose hangover hadn’t subsided, leaned her face over the carriage railing, retching and showing off her pale face.

Lena leaned her head against the carriage and said:

“That’s why, Hero. Didn’t I tell you? I said to drink moderately. Why did you eat so much?”

“…Y-yeah… Urp…! S-sorry… Old man…! Ugh…!”

I patted the hero’s back, reassuring her that it was okay. With each rhythmic pat, the hero matched the tempo with staccato retching. Mille, who was enjoying the rural scenery from the opposite direction, started humming a tune as she watched the hero.

“Hmm hmm hmm-!”

“Urgh…! Bleurgh…!”

“Hmm hmm hmm-! Hmm-!”

“Bleurgh…!”

“Hmm hmm hmm-! Hmm-!”

“Urp…!”

Watching this, Ashuria made an exasperated expression and said to Mille:

“Mille. Don’t match the rhythm to someone’s vomiting sounds.”

“Ahahahaha!”

Lena, who was watching this, burst into laughter while stomping her feet, and the hero turned around with a pale face and a tearful expression, but when the carriage shook again, she started retching.

“Bleurgh…!”

Since we still had a long way to go before reaching the front line area, there was no problem in terms of condition. Even a superhuman like the hero would be fresh the next day after suffering from a hangover for one day. Lena reached for the luggage bag, checking the orders again, and said:

“So, to get to the operation area this time, we’re passing through this region, right?”

The hero nodded with her face leaning over the carriage. Then she whispered to me in a small voice. I nodded at her voice and then said to Lena:

“The command structure has changed this time, and they say Kerberos is there.”

“Oh, really? Somehow that’s nice to hear.”

Lena spoke with a voice full of genuine pleasure. Ashuria also nodded at Lena’s words and said:

“Somehow I miss her. Do you think Kerberos misses us too?”

To Ashuria’s question, Lena looked at me and said:

“She must miss us terribly.”

Ashuria nodded at those words and smiled.

“I see.”

The two of them had gotten along better after fighting once.

I watched their smiles while continuing to pat the hero’s back with one hand.

“Bleurgh…!”

With the bright blue sky. Along with the thick sound that buried the mountain birds’ calls, another journey of ours was beginning.

---

After successfully thwarting Demon King Army Commander Greta’s feint operation, Kerberos’s position within the kingdom was solidified. Having succeeded in making a game-changing move in a situation where betrayal wouldn’t have been strange, she was able to erase the stigma of being a traitor.

However, in the village area where her defense forces were stationed, gossip about Kerberos often came up as a topic whenever people were bored. From women doing laundry at the well to those gathered for sewing, after finishing topics about the war, they were busy talking about the demon-born commander stationed in this area.

“I heard she’s really strict because she originally came from a military background. She doesn’t have any pretty clothes and doesn’t even wear makeup.”

When someone sewing brought up such a rumor, a woman halfway through knitting a scarf on the opposite side clicked her tongue and exclaimed:

“Oh my, what a waste of a face. That’s why she was dumped by a man.”

“Sister. If you say things like that, you’ll get arrested. Arrested.”

“Oh, let them try to arrest me! What’s wrong with us talking among ourselves?”

Women’s conversations always tend to cross the line in different directions. A girl listening to their conversation frowned and said:

“But isn’t it wrong to talk like that about someone who’s protecting us here?”

At her words, the older woman cackled and shrugged, looking around. A plump woman nodded at that gaze and said in a gentle voice:

“Child. It’s not good to interrupt when adults are talking.”

“Adults don’t talk like that. She’s protecting us, so what does it matter if she dresses up or gets dumped by a man?”

At the girl’s words, another woman pursed her lips and said:

“Oh my, look at this girl. She has no filter with adults. Hey. Are you saying we’re talking like children? Huh? Adults don’t talk like that? How maturely do you talk to say such things? We can just chat about this and that while sewing. Why are you speaking so rudely?”

Other women joined in, and the atmosphere was heating up. In an atmosphere like a boiling kettle, the girl focused on her work and continued speaking:

“Would you like it if someone talked about you like that, ma’am?”

Again, the plump woman raised her voice. She put aside her gentle attitude and her face turned red.

“How can this child say such things when we’re trying to let it go…”

“Hey, it’s just a child’s words, why are you getting so angry? Huh? Is it right to raise your voice while sewing?”

The older woman lightly suppressed the plump woman’s voice. The plump woman didn’t get angrier at the older woman’s words. Like a dog receiving an order, she shrunk her neck and started sewing again. The older woman said to the girl:

“The people here aren’t saying those things because they hate that person, but because they’re all concerned. Think about it. Going to the battlefield in the prime of her youth without being able to dress up, and her man cheating on her, isn’t that pitiful?”

“Did the commander ask to be pitied?”

The older woman’s eyebrows twitched. The girl also looked straight at the older woman as if not to be outdone. The older woman closed her eyes, nodded, then exhaled and said:

“You’re really an insolent child, aren’t you? Huh? We’re being nice because you’re young, but you keep talking back? I need to have a word with your mother. We let you in to learn sewing because you asked, but you can’t say anything right?”

The girl’s eyes wavered. Children of this age were usually weak to talk about their parents. The older woman saw the girl’s expression change and said with a triumphant smile:

“If you understand…”

“I’d appreciate it if you didn’t bully the child.”

The older woman’s face hardened and she turned her head. The entrance was wide open, and Kerberos was standing there. She was looking around at the women with a stiff face, wearing armor.

The older woman, seemingly not expecting such a sudden visit, muttered while sweating:

“W-why didn’t you knock…”

“I forgot. By the way, is it polite among humans to gossip about others’ private lives? I heard talk about pitying me.”

“No, that’s not…”

Kerberos entered the middle of the room. At that moment, the girl thought that Kerberos was really a beautiful demon. Even wearing rough and hard armor, with her hair roughly tied back, she was a wild beauty.

The older woman looked at Kerberos while keeping her head down. Her head was bowed subserviently, but the way she clenched her fists showed a challenging atmosphere.

“I’m really grateful for you sewing for the soldiers, I know you think of each soldier like your own child, and I’m aware that this isn’t something to be taken for granted.”

She went behind the girl and placed her hand on her shoulder. Gently patting her, she continued speaking:

“However, we all know that this issue and that issue are separate matters.”

Kerberos looked at the older woman. The older woman turned her gaze away with an annoyed expression, and Kerberos raised the girl. She patted the girl’s back and said:

“Nigel. Right?”

The girl called Nigel nodded.

“I’ll take the girl with me.”

Kerberos said that and slipped back outside. Nigel matched her steps with Kerberos with a dazed face. As soon as they got outside, Nigel mumbled as if trying to say something, but Kerberos spoke first:

“I have something to discuss privately. Follow me to my room.”

“…Yes.”

Nigel nodded and followed Kerberos.

---

Kerberos’s room could be described as boring, it was so impersonal and ordinary. A bookshelf and desk for processing documents. And one wardrobe and a bed. Nigel thought that Kerberos was a woman with absolutely no interest in decorating.

Kerberos provided a chair for Nigel, then pointed to the kettle on the stove next to the table and asked:

“Would you like some tea?”

“Ah, no. Um… I’m fine. But… why did you call me…”

Nigel fidgeted, tucking her arms between her legs and looking around nervously. Kerberos looked around and then closed the window. She then put her ear to the door, closed her eyes and counted seconds, then came back to the center of the room and made eye contact with Nigel.

Kerberos cleared her throat and then looked at Nigel again.

“…What we discuss here must not be disclosed.”

Nigel nodded and tensed up. Her hands also tensed, turning white.

Kerberos glanced at Nigel repeatedly, her face reddening as she spoke:

“…I’d like you to prepare some clothes for me.”

“What?”

Nigel looked at Kerberos with a perplexed face.