Chapter 269 (1/2)

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.