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◎ General Farneze

 

Nehyor was gone.

As always, he seemed like he was hiding something.

 

He tried to look aloof, but I could tell.

He knew what to show and what to hide.

 

“…How did he wish to come off to me?”

 

Even between General and Corps Commander, you did not show your true feelings.

He had worked as my subordinate for these past 200 years, and this had not changed.

 

What was he thinking? No one knew. He really did not show what was on his mind.

 

(Well, there was that one time.)

 

A Corps Commander had challenged me with Gekokujyo.

In front of the other Corps Commanders, no less.

 

He must have been very confident.

 

Regardless, I had won easily.

I can still remember what Nehyor had muttered while watching it.

 

“Same as before. It’s hard to believe you’re a Lesser Demon King’s subordinate.”

 

His voice had been chilling.

Completely different than usual. It was the kind of voice that you might expect to hear echoing from the bottom of a terrible abyss.

 

I’ve been wary of Nehyor ever since. Of course, I didn’t do anything to make him notice this.

He appeared casual enough today as well.

 

“Now that I think about, he was unusually evasive today.”

 

The reports were usually quite inconsequential, but things were a little different this time.

It was when he was talking about the new Commander.

 

He said it so brusquely, it was as if he was begging me to forget it without taking much notice.

And the strangeness of it ended up sticking with me.

 

And so I had to stop him and check.

 

(Golan the ogre, huh?)

 

Indeed, it might just have been that he saw that Guden was injured and that he had a chance.

Such things were common enough. And so I didn’t think much about that explanation.

 

(The other Corps Commanders were waging more serious battles. And so I was distracted.)

 

The hill that Nehyor protected was almost peaceful in comparison.

Though, it was really only because the losses on the other battlefields were so heavy.

 

(No one above a Commander had died, but they had killed one enemy Commander…Hm?)

 

Who was it that defeated the enemy Commander?

Normally, you would assume that it was Lobos, as he led Nehyor’s main assault force.

 

However, they were both beast types, and the difference between a Taiga and a Wise Wolf was large.

So, was it Nehyor himself?

 

No, he had mentioned that he had been in the main camp the whole time.

Then who?

 

“…I see. So that’s what this is.”

 

I didn’t even need to look into it.

It was clear to me that Nehyor was trying to hide this new Commander.

 

So he was the one who defeated the Taiga.

 

(Well, perhaps I should find out more about him.)

 

That way, I might be able to learn a little about what Nehyor is thinking.

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