The Devil Wears Fine Clothes (5)

Just because you’re on the battlefield, does it mean you don’t know pleasure?

Even those soldiers wouldn’t be standing stiffly like wooden statues, unaware of entertainment.

A huge old tree was tinged with red light, and from within the blazing flames came the excited voices of soldiers. At the modest banquet that began after the strategy meeting ended, the soldiers kept tearing into meat and gobbling up bread with happy smiles.

I was leaning against the old tree, observing people enjoying the party.

“Old man, aren’t you drinking?”

I heard Lena’s voice. She had approached me at some point and was bringing her face close. I showed Lena the bottle I was holding in my left hand and said:

“I got one. They said it’s one per four people, but I brought it secretly.”

Lena stared at the bottle with a meaningful smile, then took out the alcohol she had hidden behind her back and said:

“Me too.”

It was a sorry thing for the soldiers, but I thought that as the hero’s party diving into dangerous operations, we might be entitled to this much privilege. Lena plopped down by the old tree and patted the spot next to her. The thick, protruding root that was good for sitting was shiny enough to reflect the firelight, as if soldiers passing by had often sat there.

I squatted down and said:

“This reminds me of the old days. We used to have banquets like this sometimes when I was in the knight order too.”

“Did you dance and sing like that there too, old man?”

Lena’s gaze turned to a soldier dancing in the middle of the bonfire. Seeing a soldier drunk on alcohol twisting his body this way and that like an empty-jointed doll, the hero’s eyes widened, and Mille cheered.

Admiring the stylish dance moves, I said:

“I was a knight. I often did talent shows and such as a trainee, but not after becoming a knight. I was usually on the ordering side.”

“What did you do as a trainee?”

Lena was persistent. Like a viper that won’t let go of its prey, she looked desperate to see my talent. I said:

“I danced too. I couldn’t do it properly, but as a trainee, I was full of passion and somehow managed to move my body to the music.”

Lena watched the soldier who had just gone down amid cheers. His flushed face was filled with satisfaction, making even those watching feel good. Lena glanced at me repeatedly and said:

“I want to see it…”

I pretended not to hear her words and brought the bottle to my lips. Lena kept giving me looks and then poked my side with her finger.

“Oof…!”

The alcohol I had half-swallowed in my mouth spurted forward, and Lena laughed. She lightly grabbed my arm and said in a coquettish voice:

“Show me. Okay?”

I smiled and shook my head. I shook it side to side and then stood up like someone who was going to do it anyway. The live band by the bonfire was still playing music, and the empty square was looking for an owner. I took off the robe I had wrapped around myself and walked among the people, and the soldiers whispered with voices full of anticipation.

---

[It suits you well.]

That voice echoed in Kerberos’s ears like an echo. Her head, which had been busy with the meeting, replayed the happiest memory like a recorder as rest time approached.

“Woooah!”

“Who is that? What does he do?”

“I don’t know! But that old man is fun!”

When she came to her senses, the porter was dancing in the middle of the banquet hall.

Kerberos was standing in a corner watching. His dance moves were a mess, but he was passionately shaking his body exactly to the beat, making the soldiers sway along. While it couldn’t be called impressive, she thought he was an interesting man.

She could also see Lena raising her hands and cheering behind the porter. And a little further away, she saw Ashuria peeking at the banquet hall while treating villagers. The porter shook his body vigorously, circled the square once, and then extended his hand to the hero sitting in the seat of honor.

The hero was startled and waved her hands in confusion, and in the meantime, Mille jumped forward as if in place of the hero and took the porter’s hand. The two with their height difference held both hands tightly and spun around, and then to the strange dance rhythm, Mille showed surprisingly agile movements and staff work.

She kicked the ground hard enough to make sparks fly lightly, then spun 5 times in the air before landing gracefully.

“Woooooah!”

“Elf is the best!”

“Wooooooah!”

The soldiers went wild with even more excited voices, and Kerberos smiled without realizing it. Because the hero was making a regretful expression while lightly biting her finger. Because she could understand that hero’s feelings a little bit now.

“Show-off.”

She was making a gloomy expression, then turned her head at the voice coming from beside her. The older woman. She was standing next to Kerberos with a cigarette in her mouth and an indifferent face. Her gaze was also directed at the porter.

Kerberos said:

“I’m sorry about that.”

The woman didn’t answer. She took a deep drag on her cigarette, closed her eyes, and nodded. Kerberos felt like the bonfire flickering before her eyes was hypnotizing her. With a dreamy feeling, the world turned orange, and the sound of music became faint.

But her conversation with the woman was clearly audible.

Kerberos said:

“I wanted to talk with you at least once.”

The woman smiled at Kerberos’s words and said. The way her mouth corners turned up seemed like she was sneering, but also like she was genuinely amused. Since Kerberos couldn’t see the other side of the woman’s face, she decided to think that she was smiling purely.

“I’m probably older than you. Try using honorifics.”

At the woman’s words, Kerberos said admiringly:

“Then you look younger than I thought. I’m 120 years old this year. Are you perhaps half-elf?”

When Kerberos responded seriously, the woman shook her head and put the cigarette back in her mouth. Then she changed the subject.

“…So what did you want to talk about?”

“I know you have a voice in this village.”

The woman bit the cigarette with her teeth. The end crumbled and the tobacco inside spilled out. Every time the woman inhaled, the smell of raw tobacco tormented her body. Kerberos, still looking at the banquet hall, said:

“I want to get along well with you too. I won’t ask you not to hate me, but…”

“My husband is dead.”

At the woman’s words, Kerberos closed her mouth. The woman still had an expressionless face, and the cigarette in her hand was trembling, shaking off ashes. Sparks brushed the back of her hand, but she showed no sign of feeling the heat.

There were tears in the woman’s eyes.

“He died fighting for the country in this war.”

Kerberos had a lot to say. Rationally thinking, this woman shouldn’t ostracize her for that reason. Because she was a defector recognized by the country and could pride herself on doing her best as an excellent soldier. Because it was her who prevented this village from being ravaged by the commander’s attack.

“There’s a cemetery over there. I don’t know if you’re aware.”

After pointing to the cemetery in the corner of the village, she wiped her tears. Then, pretending to be calm, she continued speaking to Kerberos. Her eyes were red and her breathing was rough, but she tried to hold her head high and breathe slowly, pretending to be fine.

Then she looked at Kerberos again and said:

“We can’t be friends.”

Kerberos looked straight at her.

The woman threw her cigarette towards the flames and said:

“Why you?”

Eyes reflecting the flames.

A question mixed with resentment.

Kerberos couldn’t answer that question.

As the woman’s figure disappeared in the distance, Kerberos felt like her body was burning up with miserable feelings.

And at times like this, she had to recall happy memories.

Shyly showing off her stylish clothes, she asks the porter.

[Does it suit me?]

The porter smiled and said:

[It suits you well.]

And then the porter hurriedly moves away, hearing a voice asking for help.

The happy time ends there.

After that, it’s all about meetings and fighting.

The duties that a commander naturally has to do encroach on her happiness.

When she opens her eyes, reality is there.

The porter dancing enthusiastically,

The woman walking away.

And between them, a lonely commander of demon origin standing alone.

Just then, the porter was coming outside. Soldiers were cheering and offering handshakes, and Mille was clinging to the porter with her face drenched in sweat. She was hugged tightly by Ashuria who was approaching, and Lena, after looking at the gathered soldiers, moved away because her alcohol was all gone.

Kerberos found herself moving her feet.

[It suits you well.]

She knew well that she was greedy.

A greedy person not satisfied with just those words.

Lena was arguing with a soldier while mindlessly holding a bottle of alcohol.

Ashuria was trying to dust off her clothes while patting Mille’s head, who was still clinging to her.

The porter made eye contact with Kerberos and unknowingly slipped out from among the soldiers and came forward.

Kerberos whispered:

“I’d like you to come to my room later.”

Give me a happy time.