The Melancholy of the Demon Army Officer
Translator: Tsukii
Editor: Sour
Read at Watashi wa Sugoi Desu!
Chapter 060 – Unconscious Feelings [A]
Leonhart listened to the two kalars’ opinions.
“—So we’ll stay here until my injury is healed to some extent, huh…”
Their proposal was to make the house they lived in into a temporary base.
There was a voice reacting to Leonhart’s muttering.
“Yes. Your body is… seriously injured, if I am to be blunt. You shouldn’t even be moving with those wounds… right, Pale?”
“Ye-yes. A normal person would take several months to completely recover… in my opinion. As for Leonhart-san, uhm… you should recover quicker because you are a majin, though…”
“Well, that might be true…”
As Pale continued Kesselring’s explanation, Leonhart nodded with an indescribable expression.
It was Pale who looked over his wounds. It seemed that her hobby of reading books had led to her picking up a little medical knowledge. Therefore, it couldn’t be helped that her diagnosis was ambiguous. Still, Leonhart was grateful for the little knowledge she had. Also,
…I doubt human standards could be used to judge a majin’s resilience.
A majin could survive wounds fatal to a normal human and recover from their wounds dozens of times faster compared to humans.
But even if that was the case, it would still take Leonhart at least several days for him to recover enough to move without problem considering his wounds, and he would inevitably make others wait for him. This was an unchangeable fact which he had to acknowledge.
Although that wasn’t exactly the reason, Leonhart continued speaking.
“…These wounds will indeed take time to recover. But both of you don’t have to accompany me to recover, you know? I can still move to some extent so I can make it alone. Both of you could just go ahead and return to—“
“No, that’s impossible.”
Kesselring interrupted Leonhart’s words.
Leonhart squinted and asked.
“…What do you mean? My body aside, I don’t think both of you are as wounded as I am?”
Kesselring then smiled and placed her hand on her own shoulder and shook her head.
“We indeed won’t have many problems if we are just moving. However, there is quite a distance away from our settlement, and we are likely to encounter demons on our way there. As both Pale and I can’t fight with all our power, we’ve judged that there is too much risk to go to our settlement in our current state.”
“Tha-that’s right!”
“…”
Pale’s arms squeezed her own chest as she agreed to Kesselring’s words, emphasizing the shape of her breasts as her arms tightened against them. No, that’s not what I should focus on.
Leonhart moved his gaze and looked at the two kalars. He squinted at them with a wordless gaze of suspicion.
However,
“…Also, it would weigh on our minds more if we just leave you here after you are wounded to save us.”
“That’s right! So just let us nurse you!”
They said with serious, strong-willed eyes.
When Leonhart saw that, he released his turbulent gaze, exhaled, and muttered,
“…Do what you want.”
“! …In that case, we will make this place our base for a while… Pale.”
“Le-leave it to us!”
With those words, Leonhart couldn’t help but shrug his shoulders as he saw the pair get motivated as soon they got his consent.
…Haa, no matter how I think about it, it is so clear that the latter is their true intentions, though…
It appeared the pair wanted to nurse Leonhart back to health no matter what. Whether it was due to a debt of gratitude or whatever else it could be, was it really alright for them to do so for a majin?
But I guess I’m also quite naïve for allowing them to do so, thought Leonhart as he looked at them with subtle emotion.
“We-well then, let’s have our meal right away! When I went to harvest herbs earlier, I also took various edible foods!”
Pale proudly took out wildflowers and fruits from the basket and placed them on the desk.
Impressed by what he saw, Leonhart spoke,
“That’s amazing…”
“I-I am still a kalar, after all… so I’m familiar with the forest… Ehehe… Fo-for the time being, I’ll go and cook these, okay?”
“Ah, sorry to trouble you.”
Perhaps because she was embarrassed by his sudden praise, Pale ran back to the kitchen as if to escape. Leonhart, on other hand, was convinced by her words.
It was expected of a kalar to easily collect food in forests where normal people would get lost. Although Leonhart himself could hunt, it would be hard to do so in his current state.
I guess I don’t have to worry about food as long as they are here, thought Leonhart as he felt a little better.
Although a majin wouldn’t die without eating, I might have a hard time if I was alone. As he thought of that,
“So she could cook. How about you?”
“………Do you mean me?”
He lightly talked to Kesselring who remained in the room.
But the reply he got was her asking for confirmation instead. Aren’t I the only one here other than her? As Leonhart retorted in his mind, he put it into words,
“Aren’t you the only one here I can ask?”
“Hmn… I guess you’re right…”
Kesselring’s face suddenly contracted but, rather than a stiff expression, it seemed to be more troubled. Although it hadn’t been long since they met, Leonhart did think it was rare for the usually dignified Kesselring.
…Is she nervous?
While Leonhart had that thought, he immediately denied it since she was talking normally before.
Leonhart waited for her reply while thinking about it and eventually, she awkwardly said,
“…As for my cooking, well… decent… I guess.”
“…I see.”
Why did she cut herself off like that? Though such thoughts ran on his head, it wouldn’t escape his mouth. Then as expected, the thought that came to his mind was,
…Perhaps she really was nervous?
It was similar to the earlier thought he had but in that case, Leonhart wondered what he should do.
He wanted to somehow get rid of the tension and avoid spending their time together in that awkward manner..
As the light of the setting sun from the window fell across his face, Leonhart slowly pondered.
Kesselring was bewildered.
She was left alone with Leonhart, who was seated on the bed while she sat on a chair. He had given his approval for them to nurse him and Pale went to cook.
Then he talked to her, but,
…Wha-what should I do…?
She understood why he had suddenly talked to her. He was trying to be considerate.
His casual attitude could have been considered a message that he wanted her to also be casual with him. This kind of consideration was something she also did during her days as the Chief of Kalar so she could recognize it.
It was hard for people with an inferior standing to strike up a conversation with those above them. Thoughts like “Can I really call him lightly? Wouldn’t it bother him?“ would run through their minds. Even if they wanted to talk to said person, they were afraid of coming across as rude.
But if the person with superior standing started a conversation casually, it would be easier for conversation to flow because people with weaker standing only need to reply to that person. It would allow them to notice that “Ah, so I can raise this topic without problem”.
In the current situation, Leonhart was in the position to be considerate toward her.
In fact, it was something she wished for as well. He was their lifesaver and used his own body to save them. His actions ought to have been rewarded, and she wanted to do so.
However, he should have been aware of it as well but he was being reserved toward them, didn’t say anything, and talked to her casually.
At the same time, she accepted that she was in the position of receiving such consideration.
He is a good man after all, thought Kesselring. Although she felt bad for having put him in such a situation, what she could and wanted to do in the situation was to accept it obediently.
—However, she couldn’t do it for some reason.
Not only did she hesitate to answer his question,
…I-I ended up lying…!
Kesselring mentally hung her head.
After all, she barely did any cooking at all.
She always let people cook for her in the past, and even as she retired from being the chief, she still hired people to cook for her.
…It’s the height of remorse…!
Failing to be self-sufficient was already shameful. Lying to her benefactor was even more out of question.
However, Kesselring ended up doing so and she vaguely understood why.
Perhaps because of the strange nervousness she felt as she was left alone with Leonhart. Her heart beat rapidly in her chest and her cheeks felt hot.
And when Leonhart asked about her cooking earlier, this was the thought that ran on her mind.
…I don’t want him to think… that I can’t cook.
So she ended up lying to him.
She felt she was turning weird. She needed to calm down.
Kesselring inhaled and admonished herself. I should come clean now. Just as she resolved to do so, right at that moment,
“…Then let me eat your cooking tomorrow.”
“………eh?”
Leonhart casually said such words.
His red eyes were looking at her. She was chasing after his gaze before she noticed it. Then as her eyes meet his once again,
…uh, ah—
It happened again. Her heart started to beat faster. Her thoughts became jumbled.
I need to hurry and reply. No, that’s wrong. I have to confess that it was a lie. I should say that my sentence earlier was a lie and I wasn’t capable of cooking at all—
“…O-okay.”
—She was nodding before she noticed it.
“A majin’s recovery speed is completely different based on whether they eat or not. I’ll be grateful if you prepare something I can eat properly.”
“I-I see…”
As she nodded awkwardly and looked away, Kesselring thought.
…I couldn’t say it…!
She wondered why she couldn’t control herself. But on the other hand,
…I needed to let him eat it since he wanted to…!
She felt enthusiastic as if she was entrusted with a mission.
But well, I could just look for a chance and ask Pale to teach me until tomorrow. I just need to make it no longer a lie. With that as an excuse,
“Ah, you don’t have to if it’s hard, but I would love meat as well.”
“Me-meat, is it… Okay.”
She agreed.
Although I have to hunt, I can still do so. There are many creatures and demons in this forest but I’ll still come out victorious even if I fight demons.
As she was thinking that, Leonhart smiled bitterly and opened his mouth again.
“If my body was alright, I could just go to hunt on my own, though. I’m quite good at hunting, you know.”
“…I see.”
She almost said out loud, “majin also hunt?” at that moment, but she managed to keep it inside her mind.
It wasn’t good to pry into such circumstances.
But it made Kesselring unsure. Then, what should I talk about?
No, there shouldn’t be any reason for her to hesitate. She could just talk casually about anything. Although she didn’t think she had high communication skills, it was still something she should be capable of.
However,
“…”
Even as she opened her mouth, no words came out of it.
It was because she didn’t know what she should talk about. It seemed like a contradiction, but it wasn’t. She wondered what topic she should choose to talk to him about.
Whether it was an apology, a declaration of gratitude, or things they planned to do from now on like when they had talked earlier, she could talk normally then, but it seemed she had a hard time choosing what to say in a more casual situation.
…Am-am I this bad at talking…?
It reminded her of Pale when faced with a stranger— No, it was worse than that. Even with her timid and shy personality, Pale still managed to talk properly to him. There was no way Kesselring couldn’t achieve the same.
Just as she thought of that, Leonhart spoke.
“…It was a long time ago… I even had to hunt alone during my childhood just to secure my own food.”
But even then, he was just explaining the “circumstances” of what he said earlier.
“…Is that so.”
Kesselring drooped inwardly as she replied.
He ended up saying it, thought Kesselring. Perhaps it wasn’t a big deal for him, but since it was related to the majin’s past,
…Isn’t it a topic that is hard to talk about…?
She guessed so. Moreover, if she read between the lines, it meant he was formerly a human as she expected, a person with parents—
“…Why… did you become a majin—“
“…Ah?”
Just as she noticed it, the words fell from her mouth.
“—! I-I’m sorry. It’s nothing…”
“…”
She hurriedly took her words back.
What a thing to ask, she thought shamefully.
It was obvious it wasn’t a topic to be asked lightly due to his astonished expression.
Why did a good person like him become a majin? Such questions filled her mind. Even so, she wasn’t that stupid to think it was something she could ask casually.
Kesselring once again hung her head. She kept accidentally being rude toward her lifesaver.
“Tha, that’s… I—“
“—I was a king.”
Suddenly, Leonhart spoke.
“—Eh…?”
Due to his unexpected words, it was her turn to be astonished this time.
Then, as if to continue,
“Although, I said I was a king, it wasn’t something of a big scale, just a leader of a group of small settlements. I was known as the King of the Swords back then… but I guess you never heard of it.”
“N, no… rather than that—“
“Ah, I’m telling you, just in case. Don’t tell others about it, okay? It’ll be troublesome if my acquaintances learn about it in one way or another, and I don’t want to hear others talking about it.”
“That’s…”
As she heard her soft voice, the words caught in her throat.
She ought to have refused, stopping him from talking considering he was that worried.
However, contrary to such reason, she impulsively said,
“………Alright.”
Trying to learn more about him.
“Okay. Well, this is just some personal history to pass the time until the meal is ready, so you don’t have to take it seriously.”
Leaving aside the preface she couldn’t agree with, Leonhart began to speak.
“Well… anyway, I was the king of a human settlement. The reason I became a majin was because I was the strongest person in the settlement. Our settlement was always fighting against the Demon Army since before I was born, and the duty of the king was to take the lead and fight.”
Leonhart used his left hand as a pillow and leaned against the wall behind the bed.
As he said those words, tousling his bangs with his right hand to try to remember, Kesselring nodded. It was something she could understand. In that period of time, the Demon Army was already attacking humans.
And for him, it was a natural instinct to protect his settlement and comrades.
However,
“—At that time, I hated the people of that settlement.”
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