Chapter 10: Teo.

The Demon King, Devil, did not like the rabbit-like, unmanly Teo.

Was it not obvious?
Not only was he with his daughter in their precious secret base while he was away,
but he also spoke informally to her, splashed water on her, and refused to leave the secret base… he even called his daughter by her name!
And from Teo, there was a scent… a scent that should not be there.

Thanks to this memorable first meeting, the Demon King had intended to tear Teo to shreds…
But due to his daughter’s charming pleas and a cooking skill far greater than expected, he had hired him as the caretaker and chef of this cottage.

However! Disliking someone was disliking someone!
The Demon King had continuously built an iron fortress in his heart, rejecting Teo.
But an event occurred that would bring that sturdy fortress crumbling down…

“More! More! Bring more!! How audacious! To only now present this perfect dessert called Jireum Tteok!!”

“Uncle Teo! I want more too!! Bring more!!”

With a single taste of Jireum Tteok, the once-impenetrable iron fortress in Demon King Devil’s heart came crashing down.

“Ahem. I have made a fool of myself. Forget it, caretaker.”

The Demon King spoke, his stern voice a stark contrast to his glistening, shiny lips…

“Daddy’s a piggy! You were supposed to eat with me and Uncle Teo, how could you eat it all by yourself!!”

And Beelzebub pouted at the Demon King, who had left her and eaten more than half of the dessert by himself.

“I saw nothing and heard nothing while bringing out the dessert, Your Majesty.”

And Teo, who had closed his eyes and ears. It was truly a peaceful evening itself.

“Ahem… About that… I am sorry, Beelzebub. This father was wrong, please forgive me.”

“Hmph! I won’t fowgive you next time! I’ll let it slide just this once!”

Although she had her arms crossed and her head turned away to show just how upset she was, Beelzebub’s arms uncrossed in an instant at the Demon King’s apology, as if nothing had happened.

“Hoo… In any case, it was a remarkable dessert, caretaker.
I. The pinnacle of the Demon Kingdom, the Demon King, acknowledge your dessert.”

“Me too, me too! It was a gweat dessewt! Uncle Teo!
I. The pwincess of the Demon Kingdom, Beelzebub, acknowledge youw dessewt!”

Finally… finally! Teo received official recognition from the Demon King!
Six years since being transmigrated into this goddamn f*cking world… Six long years of discrimination, senseless hatred and violence, the disgusting gazes of people who looked at him like a bug…

Even the people of the slums, whom he thought were in a similar predicament, threw stones and trash at him.
Having survived like a sewer rat in a gutter, Teo’s eyes, which had held back for six years, began to well up with moisture.

“Huh? Uncle Teo is crying!! Nanny nanny boo-boo~ Uncle Teo’s~ a crybaby~ a crybaby!”

“Huh…? N-No… I… I have dry eyes… why… are there tears…”

“…”

“Ah, haha… w-why are these coming out on their own… sniff… sob…”

He committed the sacrilege of showing tears in front of the Demon King,
but His Majesty sat on the sofa with his eyes closed as if he had seen nothing.

-Pat… pat…-

“Uncle Teo, don’t mind Daddy and just cwy comfowtably. Cwying makes youw heawt feel better!”

“I have something to think about for a moment. I have seen nothing and heard nothing.”

“S-Sob… sob… I-I’m sorry, Beelzebub… Your Majesty…”

Beelzebub patted his back with her tiny hand, comforting Teo.

“Uncle Teo!! Bye-bye~ Don’t cwy again just because I’m gone!”

“Yes, Beelzebub, see you tomorrow~ Bye-bye~”

The father and daughter returned to the Old Castle once more.
In the cottage, now quiet after being so boisterous, only Teo with his puffy eyes remained, washing the dishes.

-Clatter!-

“Phew, dishes are done!
Tomorrow… I should probably clear out all the vines climbing the cottage walls… huh?”

After finishing the dishes and thinking about tomorrow’s chores, he walked out to the living room to find the Demon King sitting there, his expression on a different level of severity compared to when he was with Beelzebub.

“Y-Your Majesty? I thought you returned to the Old Castle with Beelze… I mean, with the princess through the portal…”

At Teo’s question, the Demon King’s red eyes glinted, and his firmly shut lips parted.

“Sit.”

“How can I sit in the same place as Your Majesty? I will listen while standing, Your Majesty.”

“…Do as you wish.”

Quickly reading the atmosphere from the Demon King’s unusual gaze, Teo prepared to listen to his words while standing.

“…”

“…”

Just as Teo’s blue eyes were darting around due to the Demon King’s sudden appearance…

“Caretaker? Is managing this cottage to your liking?”

An even more sudden job satisfaction survey from the Demon King to Teo.
Teo, who was actually immensely satisfied with his job as caretaker, answered the Demon King without a moment’s hesitation.

“Yes! It is truly the best! I can sleep lying down without having to lean on a rope!
I can sleep for more than three hours! And I can fill my stomach without having to dig through trash like a rat!

There is no one who curses at me, calling me a vermin or a disgusting half-breed, or throws stones at me,
so it’s truly~ truly! heaven, Your Majesty! Thank you!!”

Teo praised the Demon King, his blue eyes—a characteristic of half-breeds, not the red eyes of demons—sparkling.
The Demon King, feeling burdened by such a Teo, held up a hand to stop him.

“Enough! Enough! I understand very well that you are satisfied with your life as a caretaker.”

Then, with sharp, glaring eyes, the Demon King focused on Teo, raising his ominous magical energy.

“That aside… you, what did you do before you met Beelzebub?”

“Uh… before I met Beelze… I mean, the princess,
I had just been fired from my job as a day laborer at a magic stone mine.”

Teo claimed he had been doing simple labor at a magic stone mine.
However, the Demon King, who had felt something was off about Teo since their first meeting, did not believe his words at face value.

“Speak honestly. Did you think I disliked you for no reason?
I’ll admit you were a day laborer. You have the faint, contaminated smell of soil unique to mines.

However… on you, there is a familiar… but wrong scent that easily overpowers that smell of soil.
It’s been there consistently since we first met, like the stench of blood from a butcher who has worked in a slaughterhouse for decades…
I will ask again. What have you been doing for the past few years before you met Beelzebub?”

“…”

An overwhelming, powerful magic energy, on a completely different level, emanated from the Demon King.

‘(He’s withstanding my magic…? No, this is different. He isn’t feeling my magic.)’

“Phew… I understand. I will tell you, Your Majesty.”

As Teo, sitting on the sofa, began to move his mouth, the Demon King, realizing his magic had no effect on Teo, quietly withdrew his power.
Pleased by the change in Teo’s eyes, the Demon King raised the corners of his mouth and listened intently.

“Ha! Good, speak. And your current gaze… I like it.”

Despite the Demon King’s compliment on his changed gaze, Teo began his story without a single change in expression, as if he had become a different person.

“I… am not a person of this world…
Ah! But that’s not to say this body is my original one. My consciousness is in the body of this half-breed… in other words, I’m ‘possessing’ it.
That’s why I can sense the tremendous magical power Your Majesty is currently emitting like crazy, but I am not overwhelmed by it.

And… as I told you when I first had an audience with you, my first memory is indeed of a trash can.
Hmm… that was six years ago, so this body was ten years old, and it hadn’t even been a few hours since I was possessed…”

The political system of the Demon Kingdom is Kang-ja-jon—the survival of the fittest.
With the Demon King, the strongest and the face of the Demon Kingdom, at the pinnacle, the official ranks are determined in descending order: ministers of each department, then directors, deputy directors, managers…
This is where people from other countries usually have a question.

‘Huh?? If ranks are determined by individual strength, can they even do their jobs properly?
Isn’t it just some muscle-brained idiot who knows nothing running all state affairs??’ is the question.
But fear not! The rank includes not only physical strength but also background knowledge of the department one belongs to.

For example, Kaim, the Minister of Technology and Commerce of the Demon Kingdom, is not only the strongest in his department,
but he is also the foremost expert in various scientific technologies and financial knowledge within the Demon Kingdom.
Thus, the term Kang-ja-jon includes not only physical strength but also intellectual strength.

However… there is one exception to the Kang-ja-jon system of the Demon Kingdom…
The Chancellor, who assists the Demon King at his side and provides political and policy advice.
The Chancellor of the Demon Kingdom is not bound by the Kang-ja-jon system; whoever the Demon King appoints becomes the Chancellor.

And currently. What was the greatest chancellor in the history of the Demon Kingdom, Franz, who is credited with ending the era of chaos on the Demon Continent and building the current Demon Kingdom alongside the Demon King, doing?

“These crazy Elf warmongers!! As soon as those military b*stards seize power, they start finding loopholes to get around the Bahas Disarmament Treaty!!”

Well… he was in his office, clutching his head… no, his horns, and screaming.

“Ugh… What should I do…? If I leave these warmongers alone,
they’ll aim for hegemony over the Western Ocean… then our Demon Kingdom… haah… this is driving me crazy.

But if we also disguise our warships as civilian merchant ships like those warmongers…
that’s madness… pure madness!

Damn it! Should I provide subsidies for the civilian ships currently being built so that they can be easily converted into warships later… no… that might be their trap…

I can’t raise funds by forcing the sale of unlimited bonds on the people like those crazy warmongers…
No… can that even cover the costs in the first place…? There must be some backdoor deal…

And there’s Melchior’s report about unsettling movements among the High Demons lately… hmm…? Could it be…”

-Click! Click! Click!-

Franz, who had been agonizing with his horns in his hands, pressed a black button on the corner of his desk three times.
The office door opened, and an ordinary-looking demon in a military uniform walked towards the chancellor.

-Creek.-

“Loyalty! It’s been a while, Chancellor!!”

“It’s Melchior.”

At the chancellor’s words, the smiling face of the soldier instantly hardened.

“Have you identified the head of the seditious movement?”

“It’s not easy. They operate in cells.”

Melchior’s agent answered the chancellor’s question without a change in expression.

“Phew… They haven’t noticed Melchior’s activities, have they?”

“There have been no such signs.”

Melchior’s agent answered resolutely.

“Good. That aside… you’re going to the Elf Empire as a military attaché next month?”

“That is correct.”

“Good. While carrying out your duties as a military attaché, secretly investigate if there is a connection between the imperial military and the seditious movement within the Demon Kingdom.
It’s not confirmed… but something feels off.

The loopholes the Empire is currently exploiting in the disarmament treaty aren’t something they can decide on so easily given their currently bankrupt economy…
There must be a backdoor, and I believe that backdoor is the seditious movement within the Demon Kingdom.
It’s probably… groundwork… groundwork for a disgusting and seditious plan that is vile to even speak of…”

At the sight of the chancellor’s eyes, which had not lost their sharpness despite the deep wrinkles etched by the passage of time all over his body,
Melchior’s agent unknowingly tightened his fists and answered simply.

“I understand.”

“I’ll be counting on your hard work.”

“Loyalty!”

-Creek. Thud!-

Melchior’s agent left the office.
Franz, now alone in the office, lit a cigarette and let out a deep sigh.

-Sizzle…-

“Phew… I pray that what I am thinking is not true. My disciple…”

In the dark office where the bright moonlight poured in through the window,
only Franz’s shadow and cigarette smoke filled the room.