Chapter 130: 【Story of the Red-Haired Hero】Caro's Demotion

130.　【Story of the Red-Haired Hero】Caro’s Demotion

* * *

A seamless white-painted hallway illuminated by evenly spaced magic lamps.

A light blue-haired girl with pale blue skin walks down that straight hallway, her footsteps echoing sharply.

The girl’s name is Caro.

She bears the epithet “Ice Blade”, a special combat officer in the Demon Lord’s Army.

…Special combat officer.

An elite among elites, a special individual among demons granted exceptional fighting prowess.

Designed with the purpose of continuously battling on the frontlines.

That is Caro.

The effect of that title is immense, as every demon she passes lowers their head to the young-looking Caro.

…While hiding their mocking expressions.

(Tch…!!)

Caro clicked her tongue inwardly.

It wasn’t always like this.

In the past, random riffraff demons would all watch Caro’s mood anxiously with expressions of dread.

And yet, the reason she is currently looked down upon is due to repeated mission failures.

As a special combat officer of the Demon Lord’s Army, she is tasked with slaying the hero.

In the approximately two years since the hero left his village,

she has devised various strategies to take his life, continuously challenging him and being defeated each time.

Now, Caro’s reputation in the Demon Lord’s Army has fallen to the ground.

“……”

Seeing her own haggard appearance reflected in the window, she deflates in dismay.

Dark circles have formed under her eyes from mental strain, and she looks slightly emaciated.

Outside the window spreads the landscape of the “Dark Continent” Sardisann where this Demon Lord’s Castle is located.

Despite being daytime, the dimly lit, vegetation-less wasteland shrouded in pitch-black thunderclouds seems to mirror her current desolate state of mind.

“Peep peep… Please state your name.”

Now then, what pulled the gloomily walking Caro back to reality was that voice, heard along with a high-pitched electronic tone.

It seems she had absentmindedly walked all the way to her destination room without realizing it.

“…Special Combat Officer, Ice Blade Caro. I request an audience with Lord Zeithawne.”

Caro shakes off unnecessary thoughts and steels herself.

The one she is about to meet is one of the Demon Lord’s Army’s top executives, The Four Archdemons, the person serving as their Number One.

Zeithawne the Tactician.

A genius deeply trusted by the Demon Lord.

And Caro’s direct superior.

“Peep peep… Voice print authenticating… Verification complete. Entry permitted.”

Suddenly, lines of light run across the wall before Caro’s eyes, causing it to split apart from that point, becoming the entrance to Zeithawne’s office.

After taking a deep breath, Caro steps into the room.

“Pardon the intrusion! Special Combat Officer, Ice Blade Caro reporting back!”

“…Ah, welcome back. Sorry for the sudden summons.”

Responding to Caro, who nervously announces herself in a slightly strained voice, is a man with glasses and long hair slicked back.

Spreading documents on his desk while handling some administrative tasks as he greets Caro, this man is none other than Zeithawne the Tactician.

The Number One of the Demon Lord’s Four Archdemons.

“Now then, I’m busy. Let’s get straight to the point.”

Saying that, Zeithawne opens his desk drawer and takes out some paper.

Hard paper bordered with purple patterns.

“…!!”

Caro’s eyes widen.

She has seen that paper before.

Her pale blue complexion turns even paler as cold sweat trickles down her cheek.

Her legs tremble.

“Here you go. Your orders. ‘Special Combat Officer Ice Blade Caro is hereby relieved of her hero subjugation duties and newly assigned to surveillance of the Siran Kingdom.’ …Just to be clear, these are the Demon Lord’s orders. You have no right to refuse.”

“…I-I humbly a-accept…”

Caro somehow squeezes out her voice and accepts the orders with shaking hands.

The Siran Kingdom is the name of a small country on the “Fantasy Continent” of Nijial.

Its power is weak, not a nation that could pose a threat to demonkind.

Being assigned to monitor it means…

“Well, it’s a demotion. This, that is.”

Zeithawne bluntly states, piercing Caro’s heart.

…To reclaim the world’s hegemony stolen by humans.

That is the aspiration of all demonkind. Naturally, Caro’s as well.

To realize this dream, she has strived and advanced with utmost effort ever since the day she was born into this world.

And yet…

(What an incompetent fool I am…)

This is the result.

Her efforts bore no fruit, and without achieving anything, she is stripped of her duties and demoted.

What else could such a demon be called if not incompetent?

Assailed by a sense of inadequacy, patheticness, and powerlessness, dizziness and nausea strike her.

Confronted with the reality she had averted her eyes from until now in the form of these orders, she felt on the verge of losing even the will to live.

Perhaps pitying Caro’s state, Zeithawne continues speaking in a gentle tone.

“But you know, Caro. Neither I nor the Demon Lord consider you useless. Quite the opposite. I think you’ve done well.”

“…However.”

“The cause of the first strategy’s failure was the sudden intervention of Golden Arcus, the second time you were hindered by the Rayvlake Knights if I recall? The third had the hero’s unexpected awakening… Yes, all of them were unforeseeable, unexpected events. Frankly, even if we had assigned another special combat officer, the operations would have likely failed.”

“……”

Zeithawne defends Caro like that while skimming through the documents at hand.

In reality, her strategies had cornered the hero to the brink multiple times.

But each time, some unthinkable situation would occur, repelling Caro.

The hero does not die. That is fate.

She had lost heart many times, thinking it was decided as such by the heavens.

“That said, failure is failure. Someone has to take responsibility or the others will complain. That’s what led to the current orders… As I mentioned earlier, both the Demon Lord and I recognize your abilities. Once things settle down, you’ll eventually be reinstated on the front lines, so keep that in mind.”

“!! …Th-Thank you very much!!”

“Hahaha, so you see. Think of this personnel change as a vacation of sorts. You’ve been working a bit too hard these past two years. Take a little break.”

“I-I’m deeply grateful for your c-consideration…!”

“Your departure for the Siran Kingdom is in three days. Until then, you’re effectively under house arrest, so remain on standby in your room… That’s all I have to say. You’re dismissed.”

* * *

“Oh my~? Oh my oh my, if it isn’t Special Combat Officer, Ice Blade Caro~?”

Having left Zeithawne’s room and proceeding down the Demon Lord’s Castle hallway toward her own quarters, a voice calls out to stop Caro.

Standing before Caro as she turns around is a lankily tall man with the left half of his face concealed by long hair.

“…Middle-Ranked Commander, Deogandai the Puppeteer.”

“Ooh~, to think you’d remember my name! I’m overjoyed~!”

Saying that, Deogandai performs an exaggerated, theatrical bow.

While his manner of speech is polite, it doesn’t hide the mocking undertone toward Caro at all.

“What do you want?”

“No no! I simply wished to greet you upon catching sight of you~! My deepest apologies for interrupting you while you’re busy with subjugating the hero~!”

“……”

“Oh? Oh my oh my oh my~? What’s the matter? Did I say something strange~?”

Deogandai bends over, lowering his posture and wringing his hands, but the corners of his mouth are repulsively twisted in a smirk.

(This guy… probably eavesdropped about the demotion somewhere.)

Inwardly clicking her tongue but keeping it from showing on her face, Caro desperately suppresses the urge to freeze Deogandai into an ice sculpture.

“Ah! Could it be, could it possibly be! Caro, don’t tell me, you’ve been relieved of your duties due to repeated strategic failures, have you?! Oh dear~, my deepest condolences~!”

Deogandai continues provoking her.

…Combat between fellow demons is strictly punished under the Demon Lord Army’s discipline.

Caro endured.

She managed to calm her emotions somewhat by mentally crushing the man before her over and over.

However, Deogandai’s next words caused her feelings to slip out unintentionally.

“But it’s strange, isn’t it~?! For someone of your combat prowess, Caro, to be unable to kill a single human boy~? Could it be, perhaps? Did your feelings shift after getting too close during your undercover surveillance days~?”

“…There’s no way that’s true!!”

Her voice came out louder than expected.

Along with a chilling murderous intent.

Even Deogandai fell silent for a moment, and the white-painted hallway was enveloped in stillness.

Only the constant rumbling of thunder outside reverberated.

“…Well, I suppose not. Do you know, Caro? I hear humans are born from the bellies of their own kind. Truly no different from beasts. How gruesome. It’s unthinkable for feelings to shift toward such creatures. If that were to happen, I would certainly despise them.”

His interest lost, Deogandai makes that remark with a bow and departs from Caro’s presence.

“Now then, if you’ll excuse me. I’ve only just returned myself, yet I’ve been assigned a new mission to conquer a human city, so I’m actually pressed for time. Unlike you.”

Adding that verbal jab at the end.

* * *

“……”

Having returned to her room, Caro heads straight for the bed and collapses onto it without a word.

She buries her face in the fragrant, pure white pillow.

Enduring the humiliation like that.

Why is she going through this?

It’s all… It’s all because of that hero.

Detestable.

Detestable, she detests the hero!

To fuel her hatred, Caro pictures the face of the hero Torch Fenoben.

However, the expression she recalls is his kind smile, cherishing her as a little sister.

And… his tearful face reluctantly pointing his sword at her.

“Damn it… Damn it…!”

Her weakly swung fist sinks into the bed with a soft thud.

How long did she remain like that?

Before she knew it, her once-white pillow had turned damp and gray.