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“Demon Cleric!” the Vampire came unannounced, a panicked look on his face, “there’s an urgent matter with the vampires and zombies!”
And without wasting time in fretting thoughts, the Demon Cleric rushed to his subordinate’s side. Only looking back to bid his fellow colleagues of the Upper Brass and the Demon King a momentary farewell with a bow.
The rest of the Ten Guardians couldn’t help but wonder what the commotion could be.
Even the Demon King, Twilight, was the same as he looked to the entrance that Demon Cleric parted from.
His chest swelled up with worry for him.
.
.
As the Demon King, Twilight understood the weight of responsibility placed upon an Area Boss’s shoulders.
Much like the Ten Guardians, the Demon Cleric was in charge of the Demon Church and that meant attending to the needs of the zombie, vampire, and the spirit race as well as being this castle’s primary healer.
On top of that, he was also his closest aide alongside Great.
The Demon Cleric’s duties was never easy and yet, not once did he utter a complaint. And he was a very stubborn old goat at that.
So it was only natural he’d be worried!
.
.
She didn’t get a sniff of that pleasant scent which only meant Leo wasn’t around.
An odd feeling swirled in her chest as Syalis stabbed her scissors to the ground before going on about with her weekly laundry collecting.
Swiftly, she picked up the corpse of a Ghost Shroud after another and shoved it into her laundry basket. The same routine, that she’d been doing…
But it felt different.
“My! What’s wrong, Princess?” asked a curious Scissors Demon who happened to be in the same place as she.
“Nothing,” she replied, trying to ignore this odd feeling.
It didn’t work.
.
.
Once again, it felt odd. The feeling persisted as she applied the ointment, given to her by the Ointment Guy with a fluffy tail, on her skin with bites, bruises, and gashes left by the Ghost Shrouds.
Though her injuries healed in an instant, leaving not a single trace…
She could only sigh.
‘Well,’ Syalis mused over with sticky fingers scratching her cheeks, ‘Leo has always healed them…’
Not once had he never heal or revive her at least one time in a day. It had been so natural that she hadn’t realized until now…
But where was he, anyway?
.
.
As it turned out, the traveling merchants got their order wrong; the number of coffins and blood banks needed this week was less than what they received.
It was no wonder the zombie and vampire race were restless today. Leonard didn’t like the sight of his subordinates being in discomfort.
And so, he told the young Vampire in haste, “I’ll go there in person and retrieve the rest.”
In response, the latter stepped back, “I get carrying the package for blood banks by yourself, but the coffins, too?!”
“Actually, I’ll have a few to help me out. So, no worries!”
.
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“Not here nor there or anywhere,” Syalis grumbled to herself after she searched every nook and cranny of the Demon Castle.
But Leo was nowhere in sight. Not at all.
Her body ached so terribly from her thorough searching, only adding fuel to her already ill-temper.
Thankfully, the Teddy Demons and Eggplant Seals were around to soothe some of her irritation with their cuteness. Though that feeling remained.
After a long while of sulking and thinking, Syalis got to her feet at once. A sudden idea in mind.
And rushed to the one place she knew would give her answers.
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“Where’s Leo?”
Oh, speak of the devil.
Nervously, Twilight turned to the Princess whose face was fuming like a boiling kettle.
“Ah, well,” avoiding her gaze, he rubbed his neck with hopes to wipe away his sweat. But they showed no sign of stopping anytime soon, “he went to the Castle Town for an urgent matter.”
“Hm,” he’d rather not know what that meant.
And just when she turned to leave, he made a sudden request, “Princess, can you not cause too much trouble at least for today? Demon Cleric is busy today.”
And much to his surprise, she nodded.
.
.
When she entered Leo’s room and stayed there for a while, it felt cold. How strange.
The couch she always sat on was not soft like usual.
The cookbooks and spell books from any mountainous pile didn’t put her to sleep like usual.
Nor did she get to enjoy the red bean cakes and green tea, that he left for her in his fridge, like usual.
Not to mention, there was no pleasant scent.
Those were the unusual things she took notice of. In short, not a fine experience.
“How dull,” Syalis said in a daze before exiting the place.
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Leonard ignored the increasing pain he felt from his back. He only had two boxes of blood banks in both arms and one coffin strapped to his back.
Unlike his subordinates who carried much more than him. It won’t do him any good if he did nothing while they worked hard like usual.
“Demon Cleric,” one of his subordinates, a zombie, called out. That tone of concern rang clear in his ears, “are you alright?”
“Yes, yes, don’t worry about me,” he said so with a gentle smile as he carried on with his task.
And then, he walked faster.
.
.
When Leonard returned, even the Demon King was the same.
“I’m alright, my liege,” he shook off his monarch’s concern with an idle wave, “no need to worry about me.”
“But you just got back, shouldn’t you take a break?”
Though his words of kindness were touching, that won’t do.
Leonard smiled as he went to one of the desks and grabbed a handful of documents; his share of the workload as the Ten Guardians, of course. “Think of earlier events as me taking a leisurely walk. Well, I’ll excuse myself.”
He left before the Demon King persuaded him further.
.
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As Leonard made his way towards a secret room that only he can access in the Demon Church, he came to a realization. Only did it come now that he had some peace and quiet to himself.
“I… haven’t seen the Princess all day,” he told himself with a sigh, his hands tightening its grip on the documented papers.
The thought of it left him with a sense of longing, enough to make him think twice.
But no, no, that won’t do. He had a duty to fulfill as the Demon Cleric.
And so, he marched on. Without looking back.
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The quill stopped suddenly, leaving behind a smear of ink on a certain paper.
“I wonder how the Princess is doing,” he said in a daze, his gaze not quite focused on the document he had been working on.
And when he did return his attention to work, he panicked.
“Oh, no. What am I doing?!”
Immediately, he took another paper and transferred all the details on it.
‘If I finish this soon, I’ll get to see the Princess.’ He nodded to himself, clear determination on his face.
He put all his energy and focus on his paperwork upon resuming.
.
.
So, he was here all along. In this secret room that not even his subordinates knew of.
But Syalis let out a click of her tongue, displeased with his choice of location for doing work.
Look at the state of this place! Dust and webs covered almost everything in here, save for the chair and desk Leo was currently using.
She marched towards him, ready to scold and take him elsewhere (even, by force).
When she got there, her mouth could not utter a word nor sound.
Leo was… asleep with both hands still holding on a paper and quill.
.
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Relief for villages that had been plagued by natural disasters.
Surveillance on certain locations moving about suspiciously.
Report on the Hero and his party’s whereabouts, though they barely made any progress. Thankfully.
And the one that occupied most of Leo’s time today.
‘Quite the workaholic,’ she shot the slumbering him a narrowed look (even though she was one herself back in her own castle and at times, like right now).
Well, she should be able to finish within an hour or two.
The subject of matter may be different, but the basis of reviewing and documenting was all the same.
.
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“Do you think Demon Cleric will be fine?”
Twilight looked up from his paperwork and then, onto Great. A look of concern on the latter’s face.
With a grin, he answered, “knowing the Princess, she’ll assist him in his workload. Even by force if she had to.”
And after a minute of silence, he continued for a bit, “let’s take a walk after this, okay?” in a cheery voice.
Though his precious dog gave out a reluctant nod, his tail wagging couldn’t hide the truth from him.
Twilight suppressed a chuckle to save him, Great, some face and resumed working.
.
.
Just as Syalis stated, she finished Leo’s workload within an hour. Not even leaving one bit for him to work on.
But contrary to her expectation for the other thing, she had long since fallen asleep beside Leo. She snored softly and moved now and then while Leo was like an immovable log.
Although she hadn’t been able to take him to a more suitable place, there was a slight smile on her slumbering face.
“Hmm, such a pleasant scent,” Syalis murmured, turning again and placing an arm over his tummy.
And the day went by, quiet like a breeze.