Ch.161[Chapter 161] The Chief of Staff and the Administrator

“Tell me! Where is the Demon Lord?”

“Why are you asking us that?”

Sir Dominic replied to the Chief of Staff with an incredulous tone.

After all, they were just people who got caught up in the conflict between the Demon Lord and the Hero.

“Tell me where the Demon Lord is!”

But the Chief of Staff was simply threatening Sir Dominic without listening to reason.

…In truth, the Chief of Staff was currently in a mental corner.

He was an elite veteran who had served the Demon Lord’s family for several generations since the early days of Gachaland.

As such… he had also witnessed the demise of several Demon Lords over time.

One Demon Lord per era.

Fortunately, the previous Demon Lord had, for the first time, passed the title to the current Demon Lord Princess Teu Le Vante through “peaceful means,” but going back to the Demon Lord before that, each succession had been brutally traumatic enough to scar a person for life.

And… the Chief of Staff was a demon who had experienced such trauma over and over again.

The instinctive choice this PTSD-afflicted Chief of Staff made to overcome his trauma was…

Absolute loyalty to and dependence on the Demon Lord.

His loyalty to the Demon Lord, etched into his very soul, had transformed into an obsessive need to know the Demon Lord’s every action and movement, resulting in a severe dependency where he could only maintain his sanity when the Demon Lord was nearby.

That was precisely why he was always searching for the Demon Lord.

His faith in the Demon Lord was greater than anyone’s.

But without the Demon Lord, he couldn’t maintain his sanity.

“By the way, you’ve been accusing us of being kidnappers for a while now. Why is that?”

While the Chief of Staff was momentarily lost in thought, Sir Dominic spoke with exasperation.

“That’s… that’s… because you are kidnappers!”

The Chief of Staff, at a loss for words at Sir Dominic’s question, resorted to making excuses.

In truth, the Chief of Staff vaguely knew.

The Demon Lord was a free spirit.

When the Demon Lord set her mind to something, there was nothing she couldn’t do, nothing she couldn’t have.

That’s why the Chief of Staff was all the more anxious.

It was his mission to serve the Demon Lord.

But what if the Demon Lord decided to leave him one day?

It was a foolish worry that came with old age, but the Chief of Staff truly feared such a situation approaching.

Perhaps that was why.

The Chief of Staff’s outbursts toward Sir Dominic, and his attempts to restrict the Demon Lord with various advice and constraints, might all stem from that fear.

“Even so—”

The Chief of Staff gritted his teeth.

He shouldn’t listen to any more of Sir Dominic’s words.

His instinct whispered so.

It whispered that if he listened any further, he might truly become just an old demon A, rather than the Chief of Staff of the Demon Lord.

In an instant, a magical science gauntlet formed on his arm and swung.

The destination of his clenched fist was… Sir Dominic’s face.

“What in the—!”

Sir Dominic urgently ducked his head to avoid the punch.

“Shut up…”

The Chief of Staff growled.

“You’re a kidnapper, and all you need to do is tell me where the Demon Lord is. Understand?”

The Chief of Staff looked at Sir Dominic with his head raised while his upper body remained bent.

Black, sinister flames rose from the Chief of Staff’s eyes.

All of this is an expression of loyalty to the Demon Lord, the Chief of Staff deceived himself.

It was the Chief of Staff’s sudden outburst.

…

Meanwhile, what were Sir Dominica and the Chief of Staff doing?

The situation here wasn’t much different from that of Sir Dominic and the Chief of Staff.

“The Hero… the Hero must be happy.”

A magical book and scroll appeared in the Chief of Staff’s hand.

“Just as the previous Grand Duke wished… he must live a happy life.”

Magical patterns unfolded from the Chief of Staff’s book.

“For that, I have a duty to confirm whether the Grand Duke is happy or not.”

The Chief of Staff raised his previously lowered head.

A holy but somewhat unstable light flowed from his eyes.

The Chief of Staff was just like the Chief of Staff.

He was an elite among elites who had assisted three Grand Dukes, or Heroes, with his human body.

And he had seen and heard with his own eyes and ears just how harsh the job of a “Hero” was in the early days of Gachaland.

The Heroes all wished for one thing, the Chief of Staff thought.

‘A life filled with ordinary, simple happiness. Not this life full of blood and despair.’

The first Hero of Gachaland died before Gachaland’s system was even fully established.

At that time, like other dimensions, the resurrection system wasn’t established yet, so once you died, that was the end.

That’s how the first Hero passed away.

‘Well… I hope it’s peaceful. At least a world where the people around me don’t get hurt.’

The second Hero was somewhat better off.

After all, he was born after the resurrection system was established.

However… unfortunately, he was born during the time when Mountain Bridge Marsh was rampant.

He saved many people and punished many villains, but… his end came with just one hacking tool from Mountain Bridge Marsh.

The Chief of Staff squeezed his eyes shut.

Even while knowing that things were different now, the Chief of Staff was projecting the previous Heroes through Grand Duke Trom.

It’s not like resurrection is impossible like with the first Hero, nor is he subject to sanctions from illegal programs like the second Hero.

Yet he… harbored a kind of guilt.

If only he had been by the Heroes’ side.

If only he had thrown himself to save the Heroes.

The Chief of Staff thought.

Incidents and accidents always occurred when he wasn’t there.

During the first Hero’s time, he was on his way to the territory with a letter for the Hero’s family.

During the second Hero’s time, he was handling administrative work in the territory while the Hero went to inspect the territory.

Yes, everything happened when he wasn’t there.

Perhaps that’s why.

The reason he struggles to stay by the Hero’s side.

But…

What good is all that?

The Hero isn’t by his side now.

And the person in front of him would know where the Hero has gone.

Only that fact circled in the Chief of Staff’s mind.

“From now on—”

The Chief of Staff’s eyes snapped open.

Holy white light streamed from them.

His desperate will made his power even stronger.

“From now on, I will question you. About where His Highness the Grand Duke has gone.”

The pages of the book in the Chief of Staff’s hand turned rapidly.

And for each page turned, magic circles rose in the sky.

“…This atmosphere is getting strange.”

Sir Dominica said, raising her shield.

“Indeed it is.”

Sir Dominic replied.

Sir Dominic and Sir Dominica began to slowly back away as they watched the Chief of Staff and the Chief of Staff filled with madness.

And at some point, Sir Dominic’s and Sir Dominica’s backs met.

“…They won’t listen to reason, will they?”

Sir Dominica asked Sir Dominic.

It wasn’t really a question, just a confirmation.

“I don’t think so.”

Sir Dominic nodded.

Sir Dominic had often seen people in such states on the battlefield.

The reasons varied from person to person, but most were either haunted by some event or had their present consumed by memories of the past.

In Feralant, they called it a mental attack by demons.

Claiming it was the evil sorcery of demons, those dispatched from the temple “recovered” them under strict supervision.

People believed that those exposed to demonic energy wouldn’t live long, but Sir Dominic knew well why those who recovered didn’t live long.

Anyway, Sir Dominic and Sir Dominica raised their shields back-to-back to minimize blind spots.

Neither needed to be told what to do.

Both had trained to the point where it was etched into their souls and had roamed battlefields.

It was instinctual.

“Give me back the Demon Lord—!”

The Chief of Staff, who had almost lost his reason, swung his gauntlet.

The fist that hit Sir Dominic’s shield emitted a shockwave, trying to push back Sir Dominic’s shield.

However, Sir Dominic succeeded in deflecting half of the impact by slightly tilting his shield.

Of course, the remaining half was transmitted directly to Sir Dominic, making his wrist ache.

Magic arrows flew toward Sir Dominica.

The Chief of Staff’s attack, deploying full force from the start.

The magic arrows, which were “ranged attack damage,” lost much of their power when blocked by the shield.

However, the arrows, which were “magic damage,” were systemically penetrating the shield and causing significant damage to Sir Dominica.

A strange judgment resulting from the combination of the realistic and the systematic.

“This doesn’t look good, does it?”

“Indeed it doesn’t.”

Sir Dominic and Sir Dominica muttered to each other.

The Chief of Staff and the Chief of Staff, who had fallen into a state of frenzy, were quite different from their usual selves.

It was a scene that showed just how significant the Demon Lord and the Hero were to them.

The Chief of Staff made five direction changes in the blink of an eye, aiming for the lower part of Sir Dominic, below the shield.

And Sir Dominic lowered his shield to block that attack.

Through the gap created in his upper body, the Chief of Staff’s magic arrows flew.

Sir Dominica was able to avoid the arrows by grabbing Sir Dominic’s waist and pushing him slightly to the side, but the Chief of Staff rose from his sitting position and delivered an uppercut to Sir Dominica.

Sir Dominica allowed such an attack from the Chief of Staff and pulled out a musket from her waist to shoot at the Chief of Staff.

Sir Dominic’s shield and Sir Dominica’s sword rushed toward the stunned Chief of Staff.

At this rate, the Chief of Staff might be subjected to Sir Dominic’s infinite stun.

However, magic arrows rushed in, barely grazing the Chief of Staff’s skin.

Sir Dominic, unable to cope with the magic arrows that suddenly appeared after being hidden by the Chief of Staff’s massive body, clutched his previously unharmed eye.

He had been afflicted with the status ailment Blind.

This fierce battle continued without words.

“…What should we do?”

“Sh-shouldn’t we leave now?”

Two young children in the alley gulped as they watched this tremendous battle.