I said with a sigh as my beloved boss called me over.

''I already told you that much, Legionnaire, please don't call me out of the blue because there's a possibility of bath and toilet time--''

　The fact that I stopped talking is proof that I'm pure.
　It wasn't me who was in the bath, it was the legion leader.
　She was half in the tub, half in the tub.

　Luckily, or unfortunately, the steam prevented her from seeing her bodily parts, but she didn't seem to mind much.

Can you wash my back with the brush over there?

　He asked.

''Well you can ask an errand boy to do that.

　A Commander class sorcerer would be able to use any number of them at the same time.

''Fool, relying on magic for everything is proof of a second-rate sorcerer.
'Is summoning an apprentice to do a chore like that a first-class sign?

No, no--

　Sephiro the Witch of the Black Peril, Commander of the 7th Legion of the Demon King's Army, shook her head.

''It's the proof of a top-notch performance.
　She said as much.
Kicking it to the curb.
　He laughed.

'Get off your ass and wash your back or I'll send you to solitary confinement.

　He threatened me.

　So I turn away and brush your back.

'Why are you embarrassed, I would have bathed you when you were a kid,'

...when you were a child.

She's still a child in her own eyes.

''The Commander has been alive since the last time he was a Demon Lord before him, you know.

..........

　There was a pause where I could almost hear the onomatopoeic sound of "girly" even though my back was turned.

　After all, it is taboo to ask a woman her age in any world.

　I could feel the killing intent from her back, as if to say that if I touched her any longer, I would kill her, even you.

　I, who has a good sense of danger, hurriedly changed the subject.

"Yes, and yet your skin is as beautiful as ever, just like a teenage girl.

　It seems to be the same in every world, where praise puts you in an instant good mood.

　She is.

I know. I know. I know.

　And then he stood up, and when he felt better, he stood up.

Flush my back!

　I commanded.

　I obeyed, turning away again, and handed her a towel.

　It's a fairly small towel, and it's only barely able to cover the area because of its uneven limbs. I'd like to tell you to use a better towel because you are the commander of the army, but perhaps you are doing it on purpose.

　This is how she enjoys my reaction, that's what she's trying to do.

　So the flushed and jittery face underneath the mask is exactly how she operates, and she's falling for it.

　It's a shameful thing, but there's no point in lamenting, so I decided to get down to business.

I'm not going to be able to get rid of it.

What is it?　Have you been playing around in your mistress's underwear?

Seriously. It's also an urgent matter.

　I said this in a serious tone of voice, and she seemed to break out of her goofball mode.

'Well, talk,'

　And then he got serious.
　No, I can't see it from behind my back, so I'm imagining it.

''Yes. As a matter of fact, it seems that we have an insider in our brigade.

An informant?
Yes, sir.
On what basis?

'During the recent defensive battle against Ivalice, enemy soldiers burst in through a loophole that only the demon tribe was told about.

Well, you've done a good job of that.

''Well, it's impossible to get a large army through a loophole. It wasn't planned, but I'm not thin enough to lose by that much.

Well, you're a class act.
It's all thanks to some tactics the legionnaire taught me.
You can't coax me out of this one.

　'Go on,' said Cephiro, when he was done.

'I just didn't expect to be attacked from the inside. If we hadn't left a squad of Kobolds behind, it could have been bad.'

Hmm, I see, so you're saying that we weren't expecting to be attacked from the inside, but since we won the battle outside the castle, we didn't have to.

'Well, in a nutshell, yes.'

'So if we had struggled against the White Rose Knights, we would have been defeated by an infiltrated squad, or worse, by an infiltrated squad that instigated the inhabitants,'

...worst case scenario.

Hmm, that's a very serious problem. And you think the person who taught them that loophole is inside the Immortal Brigade?

Perhaps.

What, no evidence?　If you doubt your allies without evidence, you will create discord within. That's exactly what the enemy wants.

No, I have my reasons.

　I quipped.

'Ho, what's this about?'

　I'll tell you the details.

　Cephelo heard the story.
　Hmm, I see," he said, shaking his head slightly in agreement.

''So you've installed a magic-driven detector in the middle of the loophole, right?

'Yes. That's the guy the Commander made for me.

Oh, that. That thing cannot be easily disarmed by a human. No. It's impossible to detect.

I later found that the device had been successfully deactivated.

So it's not possible, then, that the residents found out about the secretive work?

"I thought we could rule out the possibility that the enemy forces found a loophole by accident.

So you suspected a mole. Well, that was a reasonable decision.

I don't want to doubt my allies too much, though.

What's the point? You know as well as I do that the demon tribe is not a group of buddies.

People, too, I suppose.

Exactly, because there isn't a single organization in history that hasn't had a falling out.

If possible, I would have liked my brigade to be an exception to that rule, but...

There are no exceptions in this world.

　Cephiro asserts.
　Well, he's right.

　The situation is the same in the former world.
　There is no such thing as a monolithic organization.

　And moreover, since its birth, the demon race has been fighting with each other and vying for supremacy.
　It's not possible for all demons to be united.

But the question is, who betrayed them and for what reason?

The reason is obvious. To defeat my brigade.

That is true. But there must be a good reason for his defeat.

''Well, there are plenty of corps that are jealous of our corps. When that happens, the heads of the other six legions, all of them are suspects. As a matter of fact, they were probably trying to drag the Seventh Legion down, and they were probably hiding a spy in my brigade.

　When I expressed my thoughts, my boss, Cephiro, laughed and said, ''Kukkaku.

''.......What's so funny?　Commander. Did I say something so far off the mark?

No, I just thought it was very much like you to assume that the traitor is a spy for the rest of the Legion.

I don't want my colleagues to be as suspicious as possible.

'But don't abandon your thoughts to the end. As your grandfather would have said. He who doesn't stop to think until the end will be the one who wins in the end.

''But if I may say so myself, I don't remember doing anything that would make my men resent me, and I think I'm doing reasonably well with the other brigade commanders in the 7th Corps.

There. You look like a sharp little bastard sometimes, but you can be a real jerk.

　Cephiro continued with that assurance.

''It's true that our 7th Legion is relatively more united compared to the other legions. There are few people who would drag the other brigades down. That's because my mistresses have trained them that way.

　But then," she points out, jabbing a finger at me, "there are limits to things.

There are limits to what you can do. What is your recent achievement? How many enemy armies have you defeated and how many human forts have you dropped?　And with minimal damage to our allies and very few enemies killed, it's brilliant.

'Huh...'

　I can't understand what he's saying, so I can't help but give him a dumb answer.

　Perhaps because he saw me like that, Cephiro said, letting out a breath, "Oh dear.

You really are an idiot," he said. The point is that you should at least consider the possibility that the other brigade leaders are jealous of you. The point is that you should at least consider the possibility that the other brigade leaders are jealous of you.

'Am I in a position to be jealous of the other brigade leaders?

　When I ask her this, she points to a map of this continent on her desk.
　Next, she lightly moves her mouth.
　It seems that she is chanting some kind of magic.
　When she finishes chanting the magic, the map begins to glow.

"What is this?

　I don't have to ask, but I know what it means.
　The eastern third of this continent is painted red.
　In other words, it's the area currently occupied by the Demon King's army.

　As if that consideration proved to be correct, Cephiro

This is the area currently occupied by the Demon King's Army. And...

　And as I continue, this time about a seventh of the red region begins to glow.

'What about this region?'

　I didn't have to ask. All the names of places, forts, and cities I'd seen before.

'They're all the areas you were involved in occupying,' he said. A brigade commander of a single army corps has been involved in conquering this much territory, and has been the main force behind it. And you're a young man who just became a brigade commander just a few days ago.

...I see.

　The brigade leader was certainly right.

　I don't remember having any particular quarrels with other brigade commanders since I became a brigade commander, but certainly if I felt like the other brigade commanders, I might be jealous of them.

　As I let out a breath, I thought of the other brigade commander's face.
　Now, who was the one who tried to trap me?

　Is he a troll known as the Shattered Warrior Demon?
　Or is he the brigade commander of the dragon race?

　If I'm included, there are ten brigade leaders in the 7th Legion.
　There are nine suspects, that is...

　Trying to avoid any preconceptions as much as possible, I began to select the candidates for the traitors.