70. Argyle’s story
Devils only connect with the same demons. This is a kind of unwritten rule that has been followed for a long time, and it is a rule that is taken for granted even among demons. Intercourse with other races results in all sorts of contempt and criticism, and those born among them are called ‘inferior races’.
I, Argyle Curdlen, am a pure-blooded demon. Both mother and father are Demons without a doubt, and the bright purple hair proves it.
Is that why? I couldn’t acknowledge the existence of an older brother no matter what. Jung couldn’t go.
Agato. Because my brother was born to a woman before my mother.
An inferior race with a short lifespan, poor physical abilities, and poor handling of mana. Being such a lowly human being, I dared to seduce my father. In the end, he gave birth to the existence of an older brother.
After giving birth to her brother so irresponsibly, the woman is said to have passed away from a chronic disease.
After the woman passed away, her father said that she was able to smile again only after meeting my current mother. Okay. Because my mother, unlike that human woman, is a pure demon.
However, my father always gave his brother the most attention and love.
“Agato is so smart, I have no choice but to teach him myself.”
Lies. I knew that I favored her brother just because I couldn’t get over that human woman.
“Argyle. Let’s play next time.”
It has always been like that. He always answers me casually, takes care of me roughly, and gives me only a small amount of attention.
Agato, my brother did not. He was a little smarter than I was, so he got all his father’s love and attention.
“Argyle Curdlen. Please don’t become a nuisance to our family.”
You see how precious that proud family and Agato are. More than I.
I tried. In order to catch my father’s eyes, I tried to find my own talent.
As demons cannot receive help from spirits, they cannot use elements. However, each of them has their own unique magic. That is, you can use spells.
The fruit of my painstaking efforts gave me the nickname Argyle of a puppet.
But why?
“I will appoint Agato Cudlen as the next head of the family. There will be no objections.”
Father. Who is you, why?
When my father appointed Agato as the next head of the household, I could only stare blankly at my father.
Even though you noticed my gaze, why are you avoiding my eyes? After all, are you ignoring me again this time?
… Did I hate you that much?
“Couldn’t you give me a little attention too, Father?”
After that incident, in a place where I was alone with my father for the first time in a long time, I complained like that.
“… Agato is half-blood, Argyle.”
My father seemed to think that these words were enough.
Yes. Just because it’s mixed race. In the society of demons, he would be treated with all sorts of contempt, so his father must have wanted to embrace him with love.
But I am also your child.
It is the crystallization of the love you forged with my mother, inherited from your blood.
Are you saying you couldn’t give me even a little love?
“Agarun Curdlen. I challenge you to a duel.”
“… Don’t accept it.”
On that day, his father lost his right arm and left eye and had to step down from the position of head of household.
* * *
“… Crazy.”
Austin clamped her mouth shut, widening her eyes. Other people’s reactions to her story weren’t too different from Austin’s.
I smiled bitterly and smirked at Austin.
“Why. Didn’t you want to hear something like this?”
“No, not that…” Mom….”
To challenge my father to a duel with my own hands and cripple him. It won’t look very good. I could feel the surprised stares, but there was no disgust in the eyes of those who were looking at me.
A surprise. Astonished pity. Sympathy.
… Sympathy?
You guys dare?
‘… No, no.’
My personality of looking down on humans has faded a lot now, but when I am in a situation where I feel like I am looked down on, it pops out without my knowledge.
“I don’t need pity, so don’t look at me like that.”
I fired at everyone except Austin, who looked at me with sympathetic eyes.
“It was my choice, and I have absolutely no regrets. If I had to go back then, I would do the same.”
“Oh, sorry. I don’t really sympathize with that… I am a little surprised.”
“I’m sorry. It’s such a sad story, I didn’t even know….”
I let out a small sigh at them who repeatedly apologized, and continued.
“… I will talk later.”
* * *
After confining my father with my own hands, I immediately assumed the position of head of the household.
A lust for power? There was nothing like that.
I just thought that I couldn’t hand this over to Agato, who had monopolized his father’s love and attention until now.
My mother didn’t say anything. It was just that she remained by her father, who had become crippled, and looked after him in silence.
Agato was going to be kicked out of the family right away, but he couldn’t bear to go that far.
‘… Agato is of mixed blood, Argyle.’
Is it because the words of that goddamn old woman kept ringing in my head?
Or is it because Agato caught the demon king’s eye early on and was appointed as the chief of staff of the demon king’s army?
… Maybe, maybe both.
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No matter how much I hated my father for usurping the position of head of the family, I didn’t want our family’s honor to be tarnished.
That’s why I worked even harder. I made a bloody effort to use my unique magic, magic using wax, and studied in my own way, although I was not as smart as Agato.
Several years of trying so hard.
At the same time as the demon king was replaced, a war broke out on the continent.
A war between the Demon King’s army of demons and monsters, led by the new Demon King, and the allied army of Elves, Beasts, Dwarves, and Humans.
What was the cause of the war?
I will stand above all the lower races. We will guarantee the survival rights of demons that are hunted all over the continent. On the surface, this was the reason.
Actually, the new demon lord I had never seen seemed to be interested in such things. In any case, the superficial reason was that. No one knew the real reason for the war. At first, I wasn’t too interested.
I became the commander of the Demon King’s Army before I knew it, and I came face to face with Agato, whom I hadn’t seen in a long time.
As the commander of the Demon King’s army, I had no choice but to obey the orders of Agato, the chief of staff.
Agato drove me into idle jobs every time. As if they were trying to get revenge on me for stealing the head of the household.
I couldn’t even make a big deal out of it, and I couldn’t even show my face on the front line. I was just taking the dolls I brought to life, Bacchus and Depal, and playing the role of cleaning up the remnants of humans left in the West Continent.
As I grew up with my father’s interest and love. Although he couldn’t sit in the position of head of household, he got to sit in a better position as Chief of Staff of the Demon King’s Army.
Agato seemed to want revenge on me.
When the other corps commanders made great achievements and made their names known on the battlefield, I was the only one who produced ambiguous results and always stayed one step away from the battlefield.
I couldn’t stand it anymore, so I went straight to Agato and asked. How much more do I have to take to feel better? That you have a conscience
Agato had a puzzled look on his face, but in my eyes, he only looked disgusting, desperately pretending not to know.
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Now that I think about it, that might not have been the case.
Perhaps Agato, in his own way, was worried about me dying. No matter how active the corps commanders fighting on the front lines are, war is not just a child’s play.
Hell, where bloody battles between death and death take place, where people pray to stay alive until the end of the battle, and fierce competition for survival unfolds. The corps commander was no exception. Because of the hero summoned by the humans, some actually ran away.
Although the Huntly was revived, not everyone could bring it back, no matter how Huntly. The 8th corps commander, the last rock spirit, Gigant, was like that. It is said that it failed to revive it because it was a spirit rather than a living being, but if we did, we might not be able to revive it either.
Even the 2nd Legion Commander, Callas, who was killed by the Knight of the Stars, his soul was captured and could not be revived.
As I continued to argue with Agato, Agato sighed and sent me to Merden Forest.
That’s how, in fact, it was the first time I was assigned to the front line.
I tried to gnaw at the supply corps of humans, but I also gave the mana stone containing brainwashing magic to the soft-hearted Defal, who was reluctant to accept my order.
Maybe it was a mistake, I don’t know. I think so now.
* * *
After Argyle’s words, silence settled in the room where we were sitting.
Like Robin’s words, it seems like I’ve learned new things today that are a bit shocking.
“… I heard you well, Argyle.”
Listening to my words, Argyle, who had been staring at the floor throughout the story, lifted her head and looked at me.
“If what you said is true, you certainly wouldn’t have felt a great sense of belonging to the Demon King’s Army.”
“As you said, I didn’t have much of a sense of belonging to the Demon King’s Army. “
“It’s a bit embarrassing to give Luna a mana stone containing brainwashing magic, but… Anyway, did the talk with Luna go well?”
I looked at Luna and Argyle alternately and asked, and they both nodded at the same time.
“Yes. Luna understood my position, so the story went well.”
“I was angry at the time, but after hearing the story, it wasn’t like I didn’t understand.”
It’s good that the two of you worked out well. I nodded my head and organized the story Argyle had told me in my head.
If what Argyle said is true, it is certainly not absurd that she doesn’t particularly want to join the demon lord’s army.
“But, if you betray the demon king army, what will happen to your family?”
“… Before participating in the war, she had already left her family name to her mother. It wasn’t that I really wanted to become a householder. It’s just that I hated my father who didn’t love me, and I was jealous of Agato.”
“Isn’t the demon doing something to your family after knowing that you betrayed the demon king?”
“I don’t think so. The Demon King wasn’t very interested in me in the first place, and our family is a powerful family among the demons in its own way.”
Hearing Argyle’s answer, I put my chin on my chin and lost myself in thought.
When I heard only Argyle’s story, I still had no idea what the demon king was doing.
The reason for the war is just a superficial reason?
I had no idea what the demon king was up to at the moment.
As expected, I should listen to more stories.
“Certainly, some doubts have been cleared… Is there anything you haven’t answered yet?”
I decided to rule out the possibility that Argyle’s past was a lie. Knowing that there is no end to doubts about such details. It is better to filter out the information you want to filter out and accept the information you want to accept first.
“I know you don’t have a sense of belonging to the Demon Lord’s Army, but honestly, I’m still not sure why you betrayed the Demon Lord’s Army and tried to join us. Same goes for Galan. “
“… Good.”
As Argyle’s story continues, we listened to her story.