I need to rant about Kalego's character progression from Welcome to Demon School Iruma-Kun! And I have no one to talk to about it.
Spoilers ahead (specifically manga spoilers)
Okay. We all know how at the start of it all, Kalego despises Iruma. The second Kalego becomes Iruma's familiar he is furious and tries to rebel and even get Sullivan to break the contract. (All within episode 2).
The next time we see Kalego interact with Iruma is in front of Camu-Camu's store where he clearly tells Iruma that he will never act as his familiar. To never call on him in any circumstance. Right?
That's why, when we get to the Heartbreaker exam, I want to cry. Before the exam, the only time Kalego is ever called as his familiar is when other people make Iruma summon Kalego. We never see Iruma ever actually use Kalego as his familiar. This also takes place after the first year contract was broken (so that Kalego would not be Iruma's familiar anymore which horribly backfires for Kalego).
During the Heartbreaker, Iruma is the one to summon Kalego. He basically begs Kalego not to harm anyone, to which Kalego looks at him and asks if it was a command (as demon and their familiar).
But then we get the part that makes me want to cry. In one moment, Iruma's danger sense goes off, and he feels immense bloodlust. Without thinking, Iruma calls on Kalego, for the first time actually making use of his familiar, and Kalego, who swore that first time to never do Iruma's bidding, immediately goes to Iruma's side to fight off a threat that he hadn't even known about. There was no hesitation or complaining. Kalego knew that whatever made Iruma actually call on his familiar was a danger to be taken seriously.
Sometimes I think about the fact that if the familiar contract had not been renewed, Iruma would have been taken. Kalego would not have been there to protect Iruma in that moment.
Then we get the 13th of Betrayal! Keeping in mind that at this point Kalego has already talked to Narnia who hinted that Iruma was a human, and we learn that the Naberious klan finds humans to be utterly repulsive and dispicable creatures. So Kalego should and probably did have those beliefs (maybe Balam's interests in humans helped him unconsciously curb that bias he was raised in).
The thing is, though, that with that conversation very fresh in his mind, Kalego enters the building again, turns a corner, sees Iruma laying on the ground in the middle of the hallway with Asmodeus kneeling beside him, and SPRINTS to Iruma's side to make sure he was okay. Like I want to cry. This man who hated Iruma at first, sees Iruma in a position that makes him instantly think that he was hurt, and ran to check on him. The fact that Nishi draws genuine worry on Kalego's face in that moment is so beautiful.
Then I can't end this rant without mentioning the conversation between Kalego and Balam. The fact that Kalego wanted confirmation that Iruma was a human while still being able to hold onto plausible deniability so he can continue to protect Iruma fully? Absolutely amazing. His character has changed so much while maintaining his usual personality and demeanor.
Iruma has so much impact on every single demon around him including Kalego. It's just so beautifully done! I love this series a normal amount.
