Time to Sortie, Deogandai!

A dim laboratory filled with various instruments.

Glowing faintly in its midst, a transparent tube filled with pale-blue culture fluid...... It was in this culture tank that Deogandai was born.

This was not something unique to Deogandai.

Every demon had its role, its stats, decided in advance, and was “made” only once its design had been set to some extent.

What was required of Deogandai was to belong to the Demon Lord's Army as a middle-ranked commander and fight against humans.

Therefore, he was given decent stats and a reasonably high intelligence.

When he gained self-awareness and first opened his eyes to see the outside world, the one standing before him was an old demon in vestments.

He was an evil priest.

Naturally, the one he worshipped was the Evil God Baharia.

Just what kind of demon would they “make”?

In the case of demons who would serve in reasonably high positions within the Demon Lord's Army, their design was dictated by an oracle from the Evil God Baharia.

Therefore, it was the role of the evil priest, who could receive such oracles, to “make” the demons.

The position of an evil priest could only be filled by someone who had mastered various fields of knowledge, such as the study of magecraft and genetic engineering, which had been developed back when demons held hegemony over the world.

Because of this, their numbers were few, and due to the nature of their duty to “make” demons, they were respected as beings who were, in a sense, superior even to the Four Archdemons.

“Come here, Deogandai.”

The old demon gave that order to him as he stood within the culture tank.

He pondered for a moment.

Deogandai?

With the reasonably high intelligence he had been granted and the knowledge poured into him while he drifted in the culture fluid, it didn't take long for him to understand that this was his name.

Deogandai pushed open the door attached to the culture tank and took a step outside.

The pale-blue culture fluid that had always wrapped him in warmth had already been drained from the tank, and there was nothing left to protect him.

The air of the laboratory, against his skin for the first time.

It was somehow a little cold, and the newborn Deogandai grew just a little scared.

“Hmm. You understand my words? No abnormalities, it seems. Splendid, splendid.”

The evil priest patted Deogandai on the head.

Tall as Deogandai was in the present day, at this time his body was that of a boy about 5 years old.

Normally, a demon's body was grown to about this point before it was first given self-awareness and knowledge, and awoke.

After that, each received an education suited to its role, and began fighting as a full-fledged member of the Demon Lord's Army.

“Now then, Deogandai. A certain amount of knowledge has already been installed in you. But it is still far from enough. Therefore, you must learn. From now on, you shall......”

The evil priest began to explain what Deogandai was to do from here on...... when it happened!

“NGAAAAAAAAAAAAAH!!”

With such a scream, the culture tank next to Deogandai burst with a loud noise!

Bashaan!

Pale-blue culture fluid gushed out, and from it, the demon who had been sleeping in that tank lumbered forth.

“I'm, hungry!! I want, meat!!”

Seeing the demon who uttered such obviously dim-witted lines, Deogandai was aghast.

Every demon's physical age when it gained self-awareness was about 5 years old, was, supposed to be.

And yet!

The demon before his eyes, though he was supposed to be 5, already stood over 2 meters tall, and his body, covered in thick muscle, radiated an extraordinary sense of intimidation!

In spite of himself, Deogandai checked his own body.

But what he found there was a slender body with pale skin.

What is he!? That guy!!

What is it!? This gap!!

At this moment, a tremendous inferiority complex was born within Deogandai!

“Oh......!? To think he would awaken already! As expected of a future Archdemon of the Demon Lord's Army, Makkoymakkoy the ‘Invincibly Mighty’!”

The evil priest was surprised by the hulking demon punching the nearby instruments to pieces in a fit of temper...... by Makkoymakkoy, but he never once reproached him.

Rather, he laughed happily and clapped his hands.

“NGAAAAAAAH!! MEAT, MEAT, MEEEEEEEEEEEAT!!”

“There, there, I understand, I understand. I shall have the finest dragon meat prepared, Makkoymakkoy. Now, now, come this way!”

Smiling gently, the evil priest and several subordinates led Makkoymakkoy off, and they went away somewhere.

The laboratory was in a terrible state, destroyed and littered with objects as if a storm had passed through.

In the midst of that, Deogandai, whose existence had been completely forgotten due to Makkoymakkoy's impact, was left behind alone, still naked.

“......Uh, me, what am I supposed to do......?”

That lost, pathetic remark became the first thing he ever said after he was born: his memorable first words.

◇ ◇ ◇

“............Mm”

Pipipipipipipipi......

Deogandai woke up to the sound of a high-pitched alarm echoing through the room.

“......Lights!”

Rising from his soft futon, he gave the command while rubbing his eyes; the room's sensors picked up his words, and the lights came on.

This was the Demon Lord's Castle...... Deogandai's own quarters as a mid-level officer.

“What a nostalgic...... dream that was......”

The dream he had been having until a moment ago.

It was the memory of his birth.

And it was also the event that became the cause of the complex he carried.

Left alone in the laboratory, not knowing what to do, he ended up wandering the Demon Lord's Castle still naked.

The senior demons mocked him, asking why he was naked and if he had no sense of shame, and scolded him to stop wandering around and follow the evil priest's instructions.

It was precisely because that evil priest had gone off somewhere and left him behind that he had ended up in such a situation, but the evil priest was his superior's superior, not someone he could complain to.

Back then, Deogandai could only keep his mouth shut and listen to the senior demons' reprimands with his head bowed.

While wandering through the Demon Lord's Castle, Deogandai found the future Archdemon Makkoymakkoy, who had awakened slightly after him, greedily devouring a giant steak, tearing it apart with his hands.

His presence was overwhelming; despite being newborn, several demons were already attending to Makkoymakkoy, taking care of his meal.

That dim-witted thing over there, leisurely eating meat, and himself, who had been thrown out naked without knowing why.

This difference, what on earth was it?

Why did he have to suffer such humiliation?

Deogandai's inferiority complex was once again greatly stimulated...... and a fierce spirit of rebellion flared up within him.

(......Just you wait! I will definitely achieve great results...... and make everyone recognize me!)

Therefore, Deogandai devoted himself to his studies more seriously than any other demon, and he trained his body. He trained his magic power.

And yet, the limits of the stats he had been granted from birth were cruel.

No matter how much he trained and trained and pushed himself, if he were to have so much as a mock battle with Makkoymakkoy, he would be easily pinned down with a single finger, quite literally.

It was frustrating.

Therefore, he decided to leverage his strengths that did not depend on stats.

That meant study, and the technique of manipulating monsters.

Monsters...... ferocious creatures that bring harm to humans.

He studied their ecology and thoroughly researched how they could be controlled.

The power of monsters compensated for the limits of the stats he lacked.

By borrowing the power of monsters, he began to achieve results that stood out among his colleagues.

To his great honor, he had even been granted the epithet “Puppeteer” by Demon Lord-sama himself.

(But...... it's still not enough! I need more, more results!)

Yes, he was still not satisfied.

No matter how many results he achieved, in the end, he was just a middle-ranked commander.

No more, no less.

Just a pawn, a little more capable than most.

He had not yet won a higher evaluation from the executives.

Because his stats were only at a decent level.

Thus, the executives only gave him a decent evaluation.

He would show those people.

More, more, more, more!

By continuing to produce results!!

(......Alright!!)

After waking up and psyching himself up with a hot shower, Deogandai changed into the uniform of a Demon Lord's Army middle-ranked commander and threw a robe over it.

He left no stone unturned in checking his various equipment.

He moved straight to his office, checked a few documents, and then pressed the call buzzer as if striking it.

“......Did you call for me?”

Longinus entered the room.

“Final confirmation. 500 Dark Magic Wolves, and the Huge Red Boar...... the preparations for the large-scale teleportation magic are complete, yes?”

......Faced with Deogandai, who carried out the confirmation with a sharp gaze and without a single sarcastic remark, even Longinus straightened her back in spite of herself.

“Yes. All without a hitch.”

“Very well! From here, we shall teleport the monsters, and after deploying them to the designated positions...... we begin the invasion of the fortress city of Liheid! The demon sortieing is, as always, me alone!”

Deogandai stood up powerfully!

“Longinus!”

“Yes.”

“The preparations for the victory toast?”

“Without a hitch.”

“Very well!”

Having heard only that, Deogandai swept back his long bangs and left the office, his robe fluttering.

Longinus kept her head bowed as she saw Deogandai off, until his back, chest out, shoulders squared, striding away, was lost from view.

The usual Deogandai was nasty and said nothing but sarcastic things, so Longinus disliked him.

But the way he looked before a sortie, when he was keyed up.

Longinus felt that, in itself, it was honestly quite cool.

(I wish he were always like this.)

Sighing softly, Longinus thought such a thing.

Now then.

The time in the fortress city of Liheid at this moment was around 3 a.m.

4 hours later, at 7 a.m., the fateful battle between the fortress city of Liheid and Deogandai would begin.

......With this fate being twisted and smashed to pieces by a certain girl...... and not a single person aware of it.

Information regarding the ecology of demons is being released here and there.

What exactly are demons in this world, Ardyst?

Why do they attack humans?

In terms of Hero Torch-kun's story, that is probably a hidden truth of the world, a secret to be revealed at the end of the tale.

That said, as far as ‘The Omake Reincarnator’ goes...... it's not information that needs to be kept all that secret.

I feel like Omake-sama will probably let it slip somewhere, including the behind-the-scenes circumstances that aren't revealed in 【The Story of the Red-Haired Hero】.