Book 8: Chapter 11

Knock, knock…

Hearing the gentle tap on the door, Lumon lifted his eyes from the paper.

「Please, come in.」

Demons don’t have a habit of knocking before entering, and there’s only one person in all of the Lulugal Forest Army Unit who would actually knock and wait for a response.

「E-excuse me!」

“I knew it,” Lumon thought, as the door swung open and revealed the visitor’s face. In the back, there was a mass of thick, drab blonde hair, brought together in a French braid, and in the front was a pair of round eyes of the same color. Her nervous, timid appearance could have inspired a strong desire to protect in some people. The visitor’s name was Gelda, and she was a Beastia Majin of a cat form. The moment she saw Lumon smiling at her, her face flushed red with embarrassment.

「What happened?」

「Y-yes! Um, so, umm. Uhh, so, actually, umm…」

Lumon smiled gently as he watched Gelda repeatedly shift her gaze between him and the papers in her hand. Since telling her to calm down would probably have the opposite effect in this situation, he’s silently waiting it out.

Gelda, taking a deep breath and having finally calmed down, handed the papers over to Lumon.

「W-we received some papers from headquarters!」

In this case, 「headquarters」 is probably referring to the Eastern Military Headquarters.

「Let me take a look… ‘Notice for the establishment of the Eastern Sweets Research Team,’ huh… Gelda, please put this up somewhere where it will stand out.」

The paper was covered with phrases like 「let’s make sweets using vegetables in the east!」 When he handed the paper to Gelda, she gazed at it intently. As he smiled wryly at the thought that other demon girls might have the same reaction, Lumon shifted his focus to the next paper.

「Yeah… The rest is full of things that I really don’t care about.」

After quickly flipping through the pages and making sure that he didn’t leave out anything particularly important, Lumon set the papers off to the corner of his desk.

「Alright, I’m done reading. Thank you very much, Gelda.」

「Th-there’s no need to thank me. Just being able to help Lumon-sama makes me…」

Fidgeting nervously, Gelda started playing with her fingers and drawing circles in the air. Lumon gave her his usual smile and nodded.

「You’re always a big help to me. I really appreciate it.」

「Y-yes… N-now, if you’ll excuse me—」

Gelda rushed out of the room, her face blazing red. Lumon watched her intently.

Obtaining the power of a magic beast, Gelda harnesses the ability to transform into a Majin, a Beastia, or a Majuu, but she has never taken the form of anything other than a Majin. Lumon knows that this is because she lacks confidence in the appearance of her fur, and even in her Majin form, she is very self conscious about the color of her hair. Despite knowing this, there isn’t anything that Lumon can do about it, and all he can really do is watch over her.

「I wonder…」

Thinking deeply, Lumon sunk into his chair, resting the entire weight of his body on the backrest. “I’ve grown a lot softer on myself,” he thought. Back then, he believed that all weaklings were destined to die. Terrified of falling victim to this fate, he did everything in his power to become stronger.

But could he say the same for himself right now? “It doesn’t really matter,” he thought. It’s unclear if it’s due to his realization of the true “Lumon” or if it’s a result of Vermudol’s reign. However, he doesn’t feel bad about it. If anything, he’s more comfortable with being able to enjoy this calm, lighthearted feeling. Right now, he just wants to keep living as 「Majin Lumon」, having fun in the small, peaceful life that he has going for himself.

「Captain Lumon!」

「Captain Lumon-sama, let’s have lunch together tomorrow!」

「Captain Lumon, please help me train!」

He heard the sound of feet pounding against the ground as every member of the unit attempted to rush into the office at the same time. Stepping on each other’s feet, they all fell to the ground in a large heap.

「Ahhhh! You pervert!」

「Cough, cough」

「Captain Lumon, can I throw him out the window?」

Lumon grinned wryly as he watched them flail on the ground.

「Throwing him out the window would cause a lot of trouble. Please sort out the trash beforehand and leave it in the designated area.」

「Um, Captain!?」

Taking his eyes off of the yelling, fighting unit members, Lumon picked up a paper that he had not yet read. Suddenly, a panicking Gelda hurried into the room.

「Lu-lu-lumon-sama!」

「What happened, Gelda?」

All of the fighting unit members came to a stop when they noticed Gelda, her face completely pale. Gelda braced her body for a moment, but when Lumon smiled warmly at her, her eyes suddenly opened.

「Just now, the patrol unit came back… And there are multiple casualties.」

Upon hearing the word 「casualties,」 the entire room paused in a moment of shock. Normally, the purpose of the Lulugal forest patrol unit is to make sure that there is nothing strange going on in the forest. Every once in a while Rokuna blows up a part of the forest while experimenting with magic, but there’s always an announcement beforehand, so even if part of the forest disappears, it’s never considered a strange occurrence. Sometimes people are injured after Maju form, but there wasn’t any indication of that in the report, so it must have occurred later… Or maybe it’s due to some other unknown force…

「What’s the cause of their injury?」

「Uh-um… They say that the forest suddenly started attacking them…」

Even though he assumed it to be Maju, Lumon still had his doubts.

「Did they not say that it was the Maju?」

If that really were the case, it would be unnatural for them to describe it as 「being attacked by the forest.」 In the east, the Maju transformation phenomenon was very common, and it would be easier to just describe it as that. However, there is the possibility that they were unable to get the words out in the confusion after the attack.

「N-no…」

As Gelda shook her head uneasily, Lumon brought his hand to his chin and thought to himself.

「…We are now entering a state of extreme caution. Please gather the scouting team as soon as possible. Wait for my order to depart.」

「Understood! What would you like the team to consist of?」

「Just to be safe, please arrange the team to prepare for the Maju. I will be heading to the medical office.」

「Understood!」

The unit members, who had been messing around until then, dispersed with clean, refined movements, and the only people left in the office were a flustered Gelda and a grave-looking Lumon.

「Gelda⁠—」

「Y-yes!」

「Please make sure that you also move according to the cautionary procedures.」

「U-u-u-understood!」

Watching as Gelda fluttered out of the room, Lumon stood up to head towards the medical office.