The Melancholy of the Demon Army Officer
Translator: Tsukii
Editor: Lilia
Read at Watashi wa Sugoi Desu!
Chapter 058 – Dango Killing [B]
“…”
Leonhart had finally defeated the treasure chest dango, which had been bothering him for so long, but he wasn’t interested in that at all. As if in slow motion, he turned his gaze to his hand that held the sword.
Everything was silent around him. Kesselring and Pale were unconscious, and they lay motionless on the ground where he had placed them down earlier. The only evidence of what he achieved was the treasure chest that spawned after the treasure chest dango was slain, and the ground and branches that had been gouged and blown away, permanently scarred from his actions.
As Leonhart saw that, his heart was filled with joy.
“Really, this is the best…!”
Kukuh… his mouth couldn’t help but curve upwards into a terrifying smile. His earlier sword technique and its feedback were repeatedly played in his head. This was a critical breakthrough. His sword technique had evolved, and at this perfect timing, when he had already found a strong opponent!
Thinking about the many possibilities that would become possible once he refined and experimented with that movement made Leonhart clutch his head, as if it would explode from all the ideas that were running through his mind.
“It’s irresistible…!”
He wanted to try all those ideas right now.
He wanted to keep improving himself for the better.
And he wanted to cut down strong opponents.
Such desires overflowed inside Leonhart.
However—
“Guh—Gaha!”
A thick liquid welled up in this throat, and he coughed it out on instinct. Blood spattered onto the ground before him.
He vaguely remembered the leap from the mountain, and sluggishly made the connection that he must have been injured from that fall. Once he became aware of that, his vision blurred and his consciousness wavered from pain and blood loss.
Leonhart held his blood-soaked head.
“It, it isn’t the time for that…”
He stumbled towards the ground where the pair of women lay motionless and gathered them up in his arms.
“Is there, somewhere we could hide and rest—”
Leonhart began to walk. It was too dangerous to fall unconscious in the forest at night. They would be exposed to the elements, and there would be nobody to keep watch if he fell unconscious right now. It would spell the death of all three of them if the demons attacked them right now. 1
Therefore, he had to look for a location where they could hide and rest, or he needed to stay conscious until one of the women regained consciousness.
“Kuh, the price, for my growth, haah… haaa… is too, painful, seriously…”
Every breath he took sent sparks of agony racing up and down his chest, and his vision blurred,
But Leonhart forced his failing body forwards, one painful step after another, and carried the pair of kalar further into the dark forest.
—Leonhart’s vacation, fifth day. At a certain location.
A woman, covered in blood and dust, twitched and immediately flinched in pain. Groggily, she regained her consciousness and stared blankly into space.
…What, what happened…?
…Ugh, I can barely move at all! What is this pain? wondered Kesselring as she struggled to sit up.
She wondered what happened. She doubted it was due to bad sleeping posture. The severity of her pain was comparable to what she felt when she was injured in combat.
She probably had bruises or broken bones. However, that level of damage seemed too light, if it was from a battle so bad she couldn’t even remember it. She didn’t know for sure if it was a fight, but that scenario was the only one that could bring her body even close to her current condition.
But in that case, something must have happened to her before she fell asleep. It was either combat or an accident. Although she didn’t remember which, it had to be something dangerous, almost life-threatening.
As she tried to recall it, two faces came up in Kesselring’s mind.
One of them was the face of her fellow kalar brethren and the timid girl who Kesselring chose to be her successor.
…Pale… oh, I see…
Indeed. She recalled that Pale was kidnapped by a majin, and that Kesselring went to Rising Dragon Mountain to take her back.
And once she climbed the mountain, she met the owner of the other face in her mind.
…Majin, Leon, hart…
It was the very majin who kidnapped Pale.
Indeed. When Kesselring met him and listened to his side of story, it seemed that he didn’t kidnap a woman because of unscrupulous intentions. After confirming that Pale was safe, Kesselring chose to trust him for the moment.
And then, the ground they stood upon suddenly collapsed, and,
…Aah, that’s right. He went and saved us…
To save Pale and Kesselring who were blown into the air, Leonhart leapt off the mountain and embraced both of them. Then when Kesselring asked why he went to save them,
…I did feel strangely excited when I heard his answer…
“A man needs no reason to help women!” That was the confident reply he gave her.
To be honest, for Kesselring, whose impression of men was that they were ugly fools blinded by their selfish desires, his reply was really interesting. So much so that it made her eyes widen for a moment in confusion.
…If only all the men in the world were like him…
She really wished so from the bottom of her heart. If only there were many men like Leonhart, who actually went to save women as if it was the most natural thing instead of just saying it with their mouth, how much better would the world be!
Then Kesselring noticed an abnormality in her body. That was,
…I feel a little hot for some reason.
She felt that her body was heated up for some reason. Her heart also beat at a faster rate than usual. Just as Kesselring wondered if it was because her wound had gotten infected,
“Gh—”
Kesselring’s ears pricked up as a groan reached her ears.
As she tried to get up slowly to locate the source of the noise,
“…Kuh…”
Her expression distorted in pain.
As expected, she was seriously injured. She could confirm several of her bones were broken with just a brief survey of her body. Although her clothes were a little soaked with blood, there fortunately weren’t any bruises indicating serious internal bleeding. .
After checking her own condition, Kesselring judged that it wasn’t severe enough to enforce bed rest. She carefully used her right hand to support herself against the wall as she climbed to her feet.
“…This place is—”
It was a room made of wood.
Although it seemed like a house, she couldn’t sense any signs of life here; the chairs and desk were covered with dust.
Judging from the view through the window, which revealed scenery covered in overgrown trees, it seemed to be a log house built in the forest, perhaps for hunters to temporarily rest in.
And beside her, who had been asleep since earlier, was,
“Pale…”
There was another person, Pale, sleeping right there.
Kesselring gave Pale’s body the same brief examination that she gave herself, but fortunately, it seemed there weren’t any fatal injuries on Pale’s body either. In fact, there were barely any wounds at all. Kesselring could only imagine that Pale either had a sturdy body, or was just that lucky.
But anyway,
“It seems we landed from the mountain safely…”
They fell from the Rising Dragon Mountain earlier. They seemed to have managed to survive the fall for one reason or another.
Kesselring herself was knocked unconscious by the initial impact and couldn’t remember much. But she did remember that she had wrapped herself around Pale, and then that majin, Leonhart, had wrapped himself around them both.
But in that case,
…Where is Leonhart…?
It should be him who saved them, considering the circumstances. In that case, it was unnatural for him to not be nearby.
Kesselring got up from the bed and cautiously strolled through the house.
Her exploration ended in no time. There was only one big room, a kitchen, and a toilet, the bare necessities for a person to live in.
However, she found something she was curious about. And that was,
“This blood is…”
There were many fresh bloodstains on the floor of the house. And those stains trailed to outside the house,
“…Gh…”
No way. As she hurriedly opened the entrance door, someone called out to her.
It was the familiar voice of that man,
“—Hmn…You’re, awake, I see…”
“—! Leonhart…!”
She heard the voice coming from a spot right next to the door.
Leonhart sat collapsed on the ground, his body weight completely supported by the wall. He was completely soaked in blood, and there was a small pool of blood forming around him on the grass as well.
Kesselring rushed toward him when she saw his painful appearance, and quickly checked his physical condition.
But needless to say, he was seriously injured, even more than she was.
“Wh, why are you—”
“A, aah… well, this is more of, I reaped what I sowed…”
It was a miracle that Leonhart was still able to maintain his consciousness at this point. He answered Kesselring’s question sullenly,
“When we were, falling… I, tried… many things, and this is the result… I wouldn’t, have ended up this badly… if I could just jump mid-air…or fly, like those dragons…”
The reasoning he gave made it impossible to tell whether he was being serious or joking around to relieve tension, but Kesselring couldn’t smile at the current situation. Those wounds were something he suffered when he tried to save them. As Kesselring looked at his battered body,
“I understand, so you don’t have to answer…! I’ll treat your wounds for now…!”
Her voice quivered in agitation, which was rare for her.
I should bring him inside the house first. Kesselring did exactly that and extended her arms to carry him inside the house.
As Leonhart saw that,
“…If you, are already fine… I’ll leave it, to you, okay…? I’m quite, tired, after all…”
“Aah…! I understand, so just rest already…!”
As Kesselring lent Leonhart her shoulder and carried him inside the house, she began calculating which of Leonhart’s wounds were of the highest priority to treat. Along with Pale, who awoke a little later, they searched around for spare cloth and herbs to treat Leonhart’s wounds and speed up his recovery.
Author Note:
Pale: “If, if I just drink this blood, I can be Leonhart-san’s apostle…!”
Ssulal: “?! What scary things ran through your mind! Don’t you do that, okay! The plot of this fanfic will be ruined!”
Carol: “It’s something that will run on your mind for once, right? I was also once considering myself to act on it!”
Shichisei: “…I don’t think that’s something you should boast about?”
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