Gonna Be a Demon King!
Chapter 67: Unwelcome Duty

Chapter 67: Unwelcome Duty

The Captain’s gaze narrowed at him, suspicion creeping into their expression, and Xaren silently rolled his eyes.

’I’m guessing the others must’ve climbed up right in front of Zlego and got shot in the process, unlike me who left the range of the city first. That, or they got wrecked from the fall.’

Either way, he didn’t particularly care.

Just then, the Corporal searching his magic pouch pulled out the badges he’d collected from the mages he killed and the sound of the clattering items drew attention to him once more.

Seeing the bloodied badges, the Corporal looked up at Xaren with an unreadable expression and Xaren shrugged in response.

"What? They’re trophies. Anything for the extra merit."

The Corporal just sighed and shook his head, wordlessly shoving the badges back before pushing the pouch back to Xaren.

"Clear."

Next came documentation. He was directed to a desk where he was told to put down his name, rank and badge number onto a record sheet.

As he did so, he noted the number beside his entry and raised an eyebrow.

’I’m number 70? Hundreds fell, but only 70 have returned.’

The thought was fleeting, as he quickly finished the paperwork, was taken to another extension, and left there to wait.

He leaned against the wall, arms crossed, watching as two more wounded demons returned. Some time passed and just when Xaren was considering a nap, he sensed a familiar presence enter the area.

It was his Company Captain, Vollm.

Xaren arched a brow as the officer walked in. Judging by the way the demons around him stiffened in surprise, this was unexpected.

Normally, the returning soldiers were claimed by Sergeants or, at most, by Lieutenants under their Captains.

A Captain personally coming to verify a soldier was practically unheard of, and Xaren had a stinking feeling it wasn’t because he was valued so highly.

That feeling was confirmed the moment Vollm spoke.

"Follow me. Lieutenant Colonel Gorgre is calling for you."

◇　◇　◇

’Lt. Col. Gorgre?’

Imaginary question marks appeared over Xaren’s head when he heard Vollm’s words. But questioning it wouldn’t change anything, so he simply nodded and followed.

Vollm led him straight to the main command tent where the highest-ranking officers convened. This time, however, only one person was inside, seated behind a desk piled with files.

When Xaren stepped in behind Vollm, the man lifted his head and spoke.

"You’re really alive. Good. Saves me an extra headache."

’??’

The question marks around Xaren’s head only tripled when he heard the man’s words. He didn’t understand how his death would be a problem for the Lieutenant Colonel, and Gorgre didn’t seem inclined to explain.

The man’s next words, however, kicked all those thoughts from Xaren’s mind.

"I was told you returned alone."

"Yes, Sir."

Xaren replied without hesitation, his expression calm, though his thoughts stirred beneath the surface.

’So they know the circumstances behind my fall.’

Gorgre wouldn’t have brought up Xaren returning ’alone’ unless he was already aware that Xaren hadn’t fallen ’alone’ to begin with.

After all, he wasn’t the only one who had made it back by himself.

"The one who shot you down—what happened to him?"

"He was eaten by monsters, Sir."

Gorgre raised an eyebrow at Xaren’s response but pressed on.

"And what happened to those monsters?"

"I killed them."

Silence settled over the tent for a moment. Gorgre studied Xaren without a word before nodding to himself.

’So he used the elven monsters to take care of the job. Not bad.’

He quickly pieced together the truth from that brief exchange, though his expression remained completely unchanged.

When he had assigned Xaren and Ilya the mission to infiltrate Zlego, he had been provided with their military files, which outlined the known extent of their abilities.

He knew Xaren possessed gravity magic, and he had also been informed that Xaren had used it to assist his squadmates just before Ralguth shot him down.

Yet, instead of using his magic to save himself, he dragged Ralguth down with him.

’That alone tells me he’s the type who always makes sure to ’return the favour.

More importantly, while the others who had made it back were reported to be severely wounded, Xaren only had a few burns and scratches.

Some had even reported that human mages had been sweeping the ravine to eliminate any stragglers.

If Xaren had come back with so little injury, it meant he was either lucky enough to avoid them... or he had killed every last one he encountered.

"Did you run into any human mages on your way back?"

Gorgre didn’t waste time speculating and simply questioned Xaren, who responded and produced the little bag filled with mage badges.

The man raised an eyebrow at the sight, but when he spotted the badge belonging to the Squad Leader Xaren had faced last, he laughed.

He held up a hand, and the badge flew into his grasp. After inspecting it, he let out another amused laugh.

"You went and took down the equivalent of a Staff Sergeant. No wonder..."

His words trailed off as he casually tossed the badge back to Xaren and reached for a pen.

"So not only did you retrieve the spirit and destroy our old technology in the hands of the humans, but you took the heads of higher-ranked soldiers too."

He quickly scribbled something on two documents, stamped them, and rolled them up. Sealing them with magic, he tossed them to Xaren before speaking again.

"Take that to the Merits department together with that girl. You’re dismissed."

That girl naturally meant Ilya. Understanding this, Xaren saluted and left the tent, while Gorgre’s gaze drifted back to the order he had received not long before Xaren’s return.

Rubbing his chin, he spoke.

"Vollm."

"Yes, Sir."

The Captain responded with a salute as Gorgre tapped his fingers against the table before ordering.

"Take those two with you when you go to the Dark Elves."

Vollm’s eyes widened slightly at the unexpected order, but before he could ask, Gorgre posed a question.

"The idiot who shot him down—what Rank was he from?"

Vollm nearly replied with "No Insignia," but then the question echoed in his head. Gorgre hadn’t asked what Rank Ralguth held

Understanding this difference, Vollm’s response changed.

"Lower Eighth."

"So a Lower Class Noble, huh? Document it as Killed in Action, then get ready to leave for the Dark Elf settlement as soon as possible."

"Yes, Sir."

Vollm saluted before turning to leave, while Gorgre let out a weary sigh, pressing his fingers to his temples.

"So much damn work..."

◇　◇　◇

The moment Xaren reached his camping area, a sudden gust of wind slammed into him, knocking him clean off his feet.

Before he could process what was happening, he found himself tackled to the ground, his back hitting the dirt with a solid thud.

It took him a second to realize that the gust of wind wasn’t actually the wind at all—it was just the force of Ilya dashing toward him at full speed the instant she spotted him.

And the tackle? A natural result of her colliding with him at that speed.

The girl clung to him tightly, evidence that his falling down the ravine in front of her had hit her hard.

She had known a fall from that height wouldn’t be enough to kill him. But she also knew that angels and human mages had rained down spells on the demons as they plummeted, killing many before they even reached the bottom.

The thought that Xaren might have been one of them had clearly terrified her.

So it was only natural that she was overjoyed to see him return.

It was also natural that their little reunion instantly attracted attention. After all, she had practically tackled him in the middle of the tent area for everyone to see.

But if Ilya cared about that, she sure didn’t show it.

It wasn’t until Carack peeled her off of him that she finally let go, allowing Xaren to get back on his feet.

Shaking off the lingering soreness from the impact, he informed her of Gorgre’s orders and the sealed papers they’d been given. After consulting a senior soldier, they found their way to the Merit Department of the camp.

When they emerged, the insignias on their uniforms had changed—one rank higher than before.

Xaren was pleased, of course. A promotion was always welcome.

But at that moment, more than anything, he just wanted a few days to rest. The day’s ordeal had left him drained, and some proper downtime sounded like a dream.

Unfortunately, by the time the sun rose the next day, that dream had been thoroughly shattered.

Xaren could only shed silent, bitter tears as he trudged forward, his wish for rest unfulfilled.

For reasons unknown to him, he and Ilya were ordered to follow Captain Vollm to a Dark Elf settlement.