Lilith?

　Hearing a scream, I ordered Jiron, who was walking at the front, to stand by and ran up to Lilith.

　Jiron dutifully stretched out his back and didn't move in place like a fence that was off-limits. As far as Lilith, who was near the middle of the line, she was a lapdog with her body strengthened by the robe of the Immortal King.

　The demon clans around me were surprised by the suddenness of the event.
　They couldn't even react to my arrival.

　When I rushed over, I found something translucent snaking on Lilith's arm. Lilith is struggling against it, all by herself.

''This, this!　Get away from me!

　He bobbed his arms and slashed at it repeatedly with his sword.
　Translucent and wriggling, it was the slime of a magical creature.

　A disgusting sound was heard, and Lilith's arm was being eaten away. The skin of Lilith's arm becomes sore, as if trapped in acid, and bright red blood begins to flow.

　Lilith swings her sword with her left hand, which is probably not her dominant hand, and tries to pull off the slime.

''You ... I'm telling you to get away from this ...!

　No matter how many times I slashed at it with my dagger, it was useless.

　The body remains entangled in Lilith's arms, with only a slime piece spilling out in a sticky mess.

'Lilith, don't move.

　I gave a short order and I held up my circular snake (Ouroboros) staff.

　It must have melted my arm until I could see the red flesh and the pain must have been fierce. Lilith gritted her teeth and squeezed her eyes shut as she held out her arm. I wonder if the reason she doesn't scream is because she doesn't want me to see her weakness.

　I aim carefully.

　If I deviate even slightly, I might cut off Lilith's entire arm. Putting magic power into the circular snake's staff, I activated the magic of the "Slash".

　I waved my staff like a cleave and cut the air sharply.

　The slash that passed by Lilith's arm succeeded in ripping off the body of the slime.

''Let it go!''

　I unleash the magic of the "Blitz" at the slime that wriggles like a scale insect and tries to escape.

　A sharp sound rang out and the slime evaporated in the blink of an eye.
　For now, it's a relief.

　But the slime, huh? I'm sure there was a magic circle set up on the path I just took to summon the slime. It seems that Lilith has accidentally activated it by mistake.

It's a problem.

　He put down the circular snake's staff once and headed to Lilith.

　Lilith sat there, crumpled in place. She held her arms and moaned in agony. If you look at it, the arm, which is still caked with slime residue, is red and sore, and blood is flowing sloppily.

　It's painful just to look at it.
　Perhaps because of the fact that the unit commander class was attacked, the ranks are also reeling.

　Shigan, who is a troop leader like Lilith, was trying to calm the unrest. It's been like that since the beginning, but this man named Shigan seems to be the type of man who can see things calmly. It's no wonder that he was appointed as the troop leader.

　Well, this troop leader over here........

Are you okay?　Lilith.

Get away from me!　It's nothing at all like this!

　Lilith approaches and points her sword at me as if to threaten me as I crouch down.

　You're a prideful guy. It might work in a good way on the battlefield, but in a place like this, it can only be a negative thing.

'Spit on it and you'll be cured!　So don't bother!

'I don't care, I can't do that. You may be unwilling, but we're in the same brigade, and you're going to be my men. Because nothing hurts a superior officer more than to see his men suffer.

　As I said it, I flicked the dagger pointed at me aside.

　I wiped the slime stuck to Lilith's arm, its highly acidic residue, with the robe of the Immortal King.

　The sticky feeling is uncomfortable, but you have to do this for your subordinate.

''One........''

'Be patient. The residue of the slime will hurt the wound forever if it remains. Even if you apply a healing spell, you need to get rid of all of it before you do anything else, or you'll be left with nothing.

　As soon as I remove the slime from the blazing red arm, I'll cast a healing spell on it.
　I'm not very good at this, but it'll get better.

　While I was casting the healing spell, Lilith looked at me intently.

"..........

What's the matter? Do I have something on my face?

Why did you help me?

Because...

I'm against you being a brigadier. Wouldn't it be better for you to get rid of me?

Oh, come on, don't say that too often.

　In the first place, it's not that I want to become a brigade commander voluntarily.

　I'm just being forced by Sephiro to agree to it. You can object as much as you like, or if there is someone better suited, I would hand over my chair to them.

　But if you still want me to be the brigade commander--

If I'm going to be a brigade commander, it's my duty as a superior officer to take care of my fellow soldiers. I don't want you guys to get hurt if at all possible.

..........

'Lilith may not agree with making me the brigade leader, but no matter what your opinions are, as long as you're entrusted with the job, you're one of my people too. I don't want to be a brigade commander who does nothing when my people are in danger. When our people get hurt, we worry about them and we treat them. That's the way it's supposed to be.

I see.

　And.
　Lilith said, in a voice so small I almost missed it.
　She used a respectful term of endearment against me.
　Lilith, who is proud of being the most prideful demon race in the group, respectful speech.
　That's a sign that she recognizes me as a superior.

　It seems that she has forgiven me a little bit. It was good then. I didn't want to have someone who was on bad terms with me when I was leading the brigade from here on out.

　And there, just in time, the healing magic finishes being cast.

　Even so, Lilith's arm was still burning bright red. It would be bad if it was left untreated and became infected or something.

What are we going to do?　Lilith. If you say you're going to take off now, I'll take you back to the ground.

　Cephiro said he was always open to giveaways.

　Then I'm sure he would be waiting for me on the ground. He didn't mind sending Lilith there.

　But Lilith was.

'No!　I want to complete this mission with Master Ike!　A wound like this, if left alone, will heal!　So, please allow me to accompany you!

　And then he didn't listen.

　Hmmm........well, it's good to be motivated. It was surprising to see his attitude suddenly turn 180 degrees, but I guess that's how much he opened up to me.

I'm sure you'll be able to find out more about this in the future. You'll need to apply the healing spell again after some time. I want you to walk around the front with Jiron. Understood?

Yes, sir!

　When I responded cheerfully, Lilith went to the front of the line, skipping around for some reason.

　.............

　I don't know why, I feel like I've somehow made an incredible mistake, but is it my imagination.......

　I can't explain it, but I feel like I've taken on a lot of trouble....
　It's as if I've dug my own grave.........

　........ Yeah, it's in your mind. Let's put it that way.
　I picked up the circular snake staff and returned to the front where Lilith and Jiron were waiting.